Last week in Paradise....

I landed in Kuta on the Afternoon of October 2nd, and met up with my cousin Jamie at the Arena hotel off Poppies II. It took me 10 minutes to be turned off by the crazy Kuta traffic... Needless to say, we booked our speedboat tickets to Gili Trawangan ASAP.

The next day we started the crazy trip to the islands– 2 hour mini-bus ride, followed by 2 hours of BUMPY speed boating, but we finally made it to Paradise... Four of Jamie's friends from Canada were traveling with us, so we hired a couple of horse and carriages and went up island to stay at windy bungalows, and Coral Beach. I snagged the same bungalow I had the last time I stayed, and the rest of the crew settled down at Windy. The coral mobile I made the last time still hanging on the porch. I walked up, and put my backpack down, and realized my little Indo friend Rudy was inside cleaning it still. I said hello, and he remembered me "Hey- I know you," he said... I smiled and said I remembered him too. I waited outside on the porch for him to finish, and as he was leaving I noticed something glint off his chest– Now... I have been very careful with my limited possessions whist backpacking, but I did "lose" my favorite silver starfish necklace on Gilli T. the last time I visited– I said, "Hey Rudy, come here for a sec..." he did. "Nice necklace you have there... " I smile, he smiles (totally knows, that I know, it's mine) and I say, "I think I'll take that back now bud" and he smiled and said "OK" as I plucked the, tarnished sun and salt-water corroded metal from his necklace. My once shiny and sparkly-most-favorite necklace in the world, came back to me, a little worse for the wear- but with a great story! I asked him why he stole it from me when we were friends, and he said "Well... because I wanted it! Why'd you leave it in your room while I was cleaning it?!" Indo-logic... fair enough. hahahah!

I was so happy to be back in the sun again, I stayed out a little too long my second day on the Island, and had a very uncomfortable "code 3" horse and carriage race back to my bungalow where I spent the rest of the night sick! Bummer... On a side note, you wouldn't believe how easy it is to communicate to a non-English speaking person that you're feeling extremely nauseous... Universal sign-language! The driver just nodded, and ran his horse like a mad-man as we bounced down the sandy dirt roads– worst. trip. ever! But we made it. After getting some rest, and 2L of water into me, I felt much better.

The next day Jamie and I went up island in a pony to watch the sunset behind the mountains. The colours were electric, and it got better after the sun had gone below the mountain tops. Naturally, we had to take some jump photos to capture the moment, right Jamie? Anyone for another Bintang?


No trip to the Gilis is complete without a ride on the infamous "Disco Pony." You have to understand the setting to get the humour in this: So... sand island, generator electricity during limited times of the day, pot-hole roads, no cars, no motorbikes, only horse and carraiges-- with candles inside glass bottles as headlights. Then there is ONE pony that has a car stereo, with two large speakers, and strobe lights.... One of these things is not like the others... Awesome. Jamie and I were lucky enough to catch a ride in the disco pony from the sunset to Scallywags where we had dinner. Numerous fist pumping photographs ensued....

A couple more days of blissful sand, sun, and surf flew by and before I knew it I had to return to Bali for my flight home!! This is when the day turned annoying REAL QUICK...

1. Van driver thought I said the Vina hotel, not the Arena hotel- tried to drop me 7km from where I was supposed to be

2. Rather than bring me to the Arena he dropped me off the the middle of downtown Kuta so I had to walk through the alleyways with two backpacks for tewnty-five minutes to get to my hotel.

3. Whilst walking with two backpacks and a purse, a motorcycle driver got too close to me, hit me and snagged my purse on his handlebars dragging me back with it

4. Narrowly missed being hit by 3 other oncomming motorcycles AGAIN... yelled at the world to PLEASE GIVE ME SOME ROOM TO WALK!

5. Got to the arena and booked a room- only to have a 10 minute argument with the front desk lady because I didn't have enough Rupiah on me, and she didn't want to let me pay for half now, and half when I could get to the bank (she let me eventually)

6. They gave my room to someone else before I could even leave the front desk and tried to give me a dodgy one that was super dirty.

7. More "negotiations" with security for 15 minutes... resulting in them giving me a nice room on the 3rd floor, and then discussing for another 10 minutes that I still owed them half the price (a whopping $8) for the room.... *sigh* One step forward, two steps back! hahahaha

Anyway, I finally got settled, and did some last minute shopping in Kuta before catching a taxi to the airport. I caught the red-eye to Taipei first, then continued to Tokyo, Seattle, and finally Victoria!! It was great, because I was upgraded to first class on the Denpassar - Taipei flight, plus I had 2 seats to myself on the Japan-Seattle flight! BONUS!! I arrived home, safe and sound, after a looong 24 hour journey.

Christy's Adventures in Asia have left an impression on my soul... I feel enlightened, brave, strong, happy, vibrant, GRATEFUL, spiritual, patient, lucky, and more alive than I've ever felt before. Words simply cannot express how this journey has impacted me. Thank you to all the incredible people I met on my trip; Ruby, Elsa, Lisa, Billie, Amanda, Thad, and of course, Sy! Each of you stand out as being integral parts in my journey... Thank you for being you. And finally, I have to say, one of the biggest reminders resulting from my trip was how amazing my friends and family at home are... I am so blessed! Thanks everyone for reading my blog, for sending me positive vibes, support, emails, and for facebook stalking my every move! Until next time....... HOLLA!

Detour Down Undaaaa!

How do I begin to recount the ten most amazing days of my life?! I guess, I should start at the beginning... perhaps before the detour down under– Nha Trang, Vietnam... where I met the three most fabulous Aussies of all time (And yes, all time includes both Crocodile Dundee, AAAND Steve Irwin...) I recall mentioning the Aussies in a previous blog entry, but at that time I was only starting to realize the HUGE impact those two notorious Nha Trang nights would have in my life:

I guess I should provide a few more details on said Aussies. I'll start with the girls, Billie and Amanda; two of the funnest, most thoughtful, vibrant, generous, beautiful and hilarious girls I had the pleasure of meeting on my trip. I already know these two will be in my life for a long time. Awesome is an understatement... And if all that wasn't fabulous enough for you, I saved the best for last, the final fantastic Aussie, Mr. Sayeed David (Sy).

I'm at a loss to even begin to describe the brilliance of Sy (and we all know, I'm not one to be speechless!) How about a list of a few highlights: smart, funny, thoughtful, kind, unbelievably gorgeous, successful, trustworthy, stylish, FUN, sensitive, charismatic, strong, generous, confident.... pretty sure I could go on for a few more hours- but I think you get the point: HE'S AMAZING.

Sooooo... obviously when I was invited to head to Melbourne for a visit, I couldn't say no! I hooked up some Air Asia tickets, for the Detour Down Undaaaa September 21 – October 2nd.

Now, this is the part where it gets tricky for me to recount- there are so many sensational details to tell, it's hard for me to prioritize the best bits and tell the story without writing a novel! So.. here it goes....

I arrived in Melbourne and made it through customs/immigration shortly before midnight after a 9 hour flight from Kuala Lumpar. I walked through the arrivals gate and saw Sy waiting for me- my heart skipped about a hundred beats, and an entire colony of butterflies came to life in my tummy. I flashed him a smile, and walked over to meet him. A half an hour later, we were still standing there, in our own world, blocking the exit for everyone else arriving... whoops! Eventually we got to his car and drove, Mario Andretti style, home (so hot).

Now I will recount a typical morning at Sy's house- wake up, shower (imagine how much of a HUGE treat showering, in a squeaky clean glass shower with a rain shower head, is after 4 months of showering in dirty cockroach-ville with no hot water...), enjoy a superior latté made by Barista Sy (YUM), have breakfast of either fresh mango and plain yogurt, or fresh toasted rye bread (which he would get from the bakery around the corner). Often followed by a second perfect latté.... Seriously, can you think of a better way to start the day?! I can't.

On Day 1 I received a Melbourne overview which included: A visit to the market, a trip to a delicious coffee house, a tour of the Lebanese district on Sidney street where we picked up some Lebo pizza, and sweets (DELICIOUS), a walk along the boardwalk by the ocean (likely one of my favorite Melbourne spots), and dinner at a FABULOUS seafood restaurant called Claypots. My favorite part, aside from the OUTSTANDING food, was the fact that I didn't even look at the menu. Sy ordered all his favorites, for this meal, and every subsequent one we shared together. Those who have had the pleasure of dining with with CJ Smith will appreciate how awesome this is, as they will have experienced my A.D.D. tendency to want EVERYTHING on the menu, take FOREVER to decide what to order, and then stress that maybe I should have ordered that other dish that looked delicious.... HAHAHA

The next day was just as memorable, and started with the typ morning routine- glorious- followed by going to a fabulous Japanese restaurant in downtown Melbourne. YUM! Then we walked around downtown, and Sy stopped at an Aussie chocolate shop, comparable to Purdy's, to pick up dark chocolate frogs for us to eat while we went to another fabulous coffee house for latté #3 of the day. Nirvana. The guy has a Phd. in pleasing Christy Smith.

Ok... I see this becoming a novel already- This is what I was worried about... so many amazing details, its hard not to recount EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM! Focus Christy....

So, the next most important thing to mention is dinner Thursday night (HAHA I love how everything revolves around eating... yum) We met up with my two favorite Aussie girls Billie and Amanda and went to a sensational Thai restaurant called Cookie. The girls, being the sweet-hawts they are, made me an "Aussie Survival pack" that included a TON of treats including, but not limited to: Australian flag Havaianas flip flops, every type of delicious candy known to Oz - most notably Caramello Koalas and a photo album with pictures from Vietnam. SO AWESOME! After dinner we went to a rooftop bar that overlooked all the beautiful lights of downtown Melbourne and had a beer... super fun.

On Friday, Master Chef Sy cooked me an incredible meal at home featuring fresh King George Whiting fish, Calamari, and a Vietnamese green papaya salad. THEN, Sy's friend Paul called and said that Arabian Prince from N.W.A. was doing a hip hop show, and invited us to go– As if the day could get ANY BETTER!? The music was off the hook!

Another dinner highlight was at an INCREDIBLE restaurant called Cumulus inc. We rolled in hoping to get a couple seats at the bar where you can sit and watch the chefs prepare the food similar to at a sushi bar. The entire restaurant was PACKED, except for two prime real estate seats at the bar- which we were seated at within 2 minutes of stepping foot in the restaurant. Lucky us!! Sy ordered some amazing dishes, and another bottle of super fantastic wine, and we topped it off with the most amazing dessert ever– house made chocolate ice cream, with a chocolate truffle that had a hard dark chocolate shell, with soft mousse-like filling, fudge, and chocolate cake. Seriously, spoiled.

Sunday was one of my favorite days in Melbourne (if I HAD to pick one). We drove out to Sy's mum's house and had lunch and a visit with her, and Sy's two brothers, his sister, and his seven month old niece Layla- ADORABLE! Sy had asked his mum to make some traditional Lebanese food, and Mrs. David made the most outstanding spread EVER! Like, honestly, it barley fit on the table, it was overwhelming... aaaand delicious. I tried everything, and LOVED everything!! Plus, Sy's family is super awesome!! I had a really nice time visiting with everyone and felt so welcome- it was really amazing.

Monday was really cool because we went to the Salvador Dali Liquid Desire exhibit at the National Gallery of Victoria. SO INCREDIBLE! Being the creative I am, it was exceptionally special for me to share something like that with Sy. The art was absolutely incredible- Dali has got to be one of the most innovative artists of his time. It was pretty great to watch Sy going through the gallery as well- Dali is his favorite artist. Did I mention that I LOVE that he even has a favorite artist, let alone one as ingenious as Dali!? Seriously- I had to pinch myself a couple times to make sure I hadn't died and gone to heaven.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, we took a little road trip down to Waratah Bay, and Wilson's Prom to do some surf fishing, and check out some of the beautiful scenery. We stayed in a little cabin right off the beach, and the view was sensational! I had so much fun fishing with Sy, it was completely different than the fishing that I'm used to, but it was fabulous. He even caught a couple fishies! I woke up at 5am to watch the sunrise, and despite it being ridiculously cold, and early, as you can see by this photo- it was totally worth it!


On my last night before leaving we had another remarkable dining experience at a very special Tapa restaurant called Movida. Normally one would book 2-3 months in advance to reserve a seat at this exclusive place, buuuuuuut, Sy and I decided to test our luck- as things seem to "just work" for us. We rolled in and the place was jam packed- obviously. Sy spoke to the host who said he would "see what he could do" and that we should go have a drink next door for a half hour. We did, and when we came back? Table for two!! Unbelievable! The next awesome thing that happened, was the waiter came over to take our order, and when Sy said, everything looked good, the waiter said "Well, why don't you just let me take care of you then.." BOY DID HE EVER! We had course after course of the most tastebud tantalizing food EVER! Sooooo special!


Anyway, it was sad to have to strap on my backpack and leave Melbourne, but I know there are many good times to follow, and as Sy said, the incredible adventures we had together are "just a drop in the ocean in comparison to what hopefully lies ahead..." I got on the plane to leave, looked at the seat in front of me and saw an Air Asia advertisement stating: "COME FALL IN LOVE IN MELBOURNE" I smiled to myself, and thought.... I just did!