I tend to write about every trip in just three posts and trust me, it’s not an easy job! I have to skip a lot of things that I wanted to talk about. But if you do understand a simple language that is called Mandarin, then, by all means, go to the Chinese version of it, you will know that I like to yada yada a lot.

It was one typical hot Bali afternoon, we were hiking to a spa that we reserved a month ago. The whole hike is about 30 minutes, but my weak city legs stretched it into one hour. And every single time when this happens, I would immediately sign up a gym class back home and end up not going. (can’t deal with gym, really. )

Apart from my weak city legs that caused the delay, I was also just taking a moment and soaking in the beautiful scenery along the way. It’s simply breathtaking.

Ah Jungle!

In the house where I spent most of my summers as a little girl, we had this small forest in the backyard. According to my grandpa (may he rest in peace), years ago, it was a grand river, and it went dry up and trees and other things started to grow in it. And half a century later, it became what it is today. A lot of the nap time, or so my grandparents believed that I did nap, I would escape the house with bare feet and go down to the little “jungle” with my other fellow “nap-skippers”. We’d climb up to the mulberry trees, or lie down on the grass, it’s so quite, and only the cicadas sang along, strangely I found it’s very soothing.

So walking around besides the real jungle just bring back those sweet memories! I also saw houses among those trees and could not help but wonder what their lives look like? How does it feel to live in such a luxury oxygen factory? Would they want to trade life with me? Even just for a short brief moment?

The Massage in Karsa Spa is so good that I slept the entire time! Honest writing about it just put me into that mood again and I almost fall asleep! The room is quite private but not completely closed, they have the sarong instead of the door so that the hot breeze went through the entire room and it just felt so relaxed.  They also have an outdoor shower in the garden which is just incredible. The last time I had an outdoor shower was in a Tibetan tribe family house facing Qinghai lake. There is something about outdoor showers. They are of course private and honestly, no one else will see you, but you still kind of feel bold and fun and has the thrill that someone might just pass through. Does that sound pervy? No?

I mean the massage was that good that we decided to stay a little longer and have a drink, and a drink led to a long lunch. We talked about everything and nothing, and time just went by like that. I stared at these rice fields and thought about one article of Shanghainese writer Chen Danyan. It was published in Traveller Magazine I believe. I read about it when I was in high school. (wondering if that magazine still exits?) She and her daughter were traveling in Bali. And One afternoon in a ventilated gazebo, everything seemed so quiet and peaceful. She felt a little tipsy, not sure if it’s the gin tonic or the gorgeous view. She fell asleep, without the help of the Balinese massage. And that was her best memory of that trip.

I didn’t know if I was just mumbling or actually telling the story out loud. But that day, I got to experience what Chen Danyan has experienced and I know the young girl in the school library would be happy to know that too.

Isn’t life just beautiful?

All photos my own shot in Bali, Indonesia.