COVID F**KING 19! …AND 20 …AND 21

Apparently, I should address this long ago, for my ( 3 remaining ) English readers, I am sorry to keep you waiting. 

Looking back to when I posted last, I’ve even more so demotivated to write a single word.

But the show must go on. 

Let’s see, where were we?

Right, we were talking about books, and then a plague happened. Well, it’s still happening. I have just received quite unsettling news that China is going to close its borders for another year. By the time I can go visit any friends anywhere, half a decade would go by. Like, NOT OKAY:(

Apart from not able to travel abroad, I wouldn’t say my life is all a mess. Sure people are dating, getting engaged and married and pregnant and second baby, and I’m doing NONE of that, but I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to every city in China, and oh how grand is my country! 

From the hottest island in February( got a sunburn on the first day there, awesome! ) to take in the freshest air in the very northeast of China in summer. From Plum rain season in Hangzhou to the Panda land of Chengdu on the West coast (we actually don’t have coast in the West, but let’s just say there is ). 

I’ve watched more sunsets on the plane than I ever did on the ground and it’s beyond beautiful when it’s up this close and personal. 

Of course, it’s not always a bed of roses, if there’s one thing that I miss the most is the routine, the sense of belonging, and an order of life.

In the first two months of COVID when China went to lockdown, I finally got the time I need to paint the wall and install the side table, and decorated my apartment. I loved my avocado toast with a fried egg and chili flakes and making a pot of coffee has never felt this satisfactory. I had more than 20 big plants and finally hang the paintings on the wall. At night I would paint and write. 

Maybe it sounds boring to you guys but I miss that time, I miss the quietness and stillness. Yet we are connected more than ever! I think that was the ideal balance I want for work and life-  stay alone, minding my own business but connecting to my people whenever needed. 

Fast forward to now, I have to give up that apartment since I am barely there.  It’s kind of sad, I did spend all these lovely lonely times in that place, checking in with my heart and my soul. On the other hand, not to brag or anything but I really brought the place to life, the agent showed the first viewer my apartment and it was a done deal! I mean who wouldn’t love it! 

Sorry to talk so much about the amazing job I have done to my apartment, haha, have I bore you already?

But it was through this process that I came through so much about relationships, any type of relationship. You have to really track the metaphor right now okay? Here goes, try to catch up: 

The apartment and I first met on a cold November afternoon, but the light in the house brought up the whole place and made it look like it’s not a cold winter day at all. (Love at first sight)

And then I worked hard to get to the point where the apartment is amazing and I felt cozy. (Honeymoon)

Life happens and one of us has to go, a hard decision to make but we made it nonetheless, because deep down you know it’s better for both sides. (Conflict)

You are happy to see the apartment in good hands because unconditional love is that you are happy for what makes him/her/it happy right? (Growth)

The End! 

 

Ha, Kidding! 

Anywayyyy, I think what we all need now is patience, which is something I learned through life lessons. 

Here I’m going to talk about something very personal and I never talked about it before. But don’t worry, it’s a happy thing! 

I never have a problem talking about my period because it’s not taboo and we should be able to talk about it whenever we want, at least that’s how I was brought up. 

We had sex ed in elementary school and I finally got my first period in the 11th grade, yes, in high school. I remember at some point my mother wanted to take me to the hospital just to make sure everything is fine, I, of course, refused to go and told her that everything is fine and she should just be patient. I was the only girl who graduated middle school without hitting puberty, just purely growing the height. And when I finally got it, my mother told my old school, and everyone congratulated her. 

So if anything I learned from that experience, is, be patient, with yourself, and with life. 

 We have an idiom in Chinese “好事多磨” which means “ good things never come easy ” or “good things take time .”

Good things never come easy, and love is the best of all things, think about that. 

Be patient my darlings!

But still, fuck COVID!

 

Words by me, photos by me, and Marsh.

Dress: Cecilie bahnsen

Shoes: Golden Goose

---

by juliette

bā lí kè｜Books I Loved In This Soon Ending Decade ( Part 1)

Right, when I put it like what the title says, I got scared a bit too.

Another decade is ending soon. I've noticed as I grow older, I am so much more aware of time. I don't remember the big fuss about turning 2000. I only remembered my mom was preparing something delicious for dinner and the TV was on, but I wasn't paying much attention, my baby brother just turned one and I loved playing with him.

I don't recall anything about the World turning 2010 either. I was in University, and the only things I remember from that year were a) I won the National Scholarship and b) I turned 20 that October. I love even numbers and that year's birthday was 20101020, and I turned 20. Some sort of a lucky sign, I'd think!

I started to pay attention to dates when I moved to the desert, I landed on the 10th of October, 2011. Again, an even number date.

Back to books. I saw a question somewhere the other day: Favorite book of the decade, and I stopped, and thinking how impossible this question is. Even now, wow, to think about all the books I read and loved in 10 years is a scary thought! In the beginning, I wanted to say five books I loved in this decade, then immediately I thought about 8 books' name, so I wanted to number it 10, but then more names dancing on top of my head and I just can't be bothered with the actual number. It's never my style anyway.

So here it goes, in no particular order, as many as it gets, I might stop at three, you never know, ha!

Hundred Years of Solitude (Cien años de soledad)  - Gabriel Gracia Marquez, Colombia 

I read this book before, in the last decade. But the reason why I put it here is that China didn't get the official authorization from Gabriel Gracia Marquez until early 2010.

Legend has it that Mr. Marquez came to Beijing and Shanghai in the year 1990 (my birth year!) and saw both Hundred Years of Solitude and Love In the Time of Cholera were published without his authorization. He was so furious that he said he will never authorize the copyright to China for 150 years posthumous. The publishing houses in China have been trying so hard since and finally, in 2010, Thinkingdom Media Group got the approval email and Chinese people finally get to read the book legally(?)

If you are wondering, yes I did purchase again his book in 2010, just to see if there's anything different, how naive.

To be honest, I was curious to see if the opening line is still the same. And if so, it is without a doubt, the best opening line I have ever read in my life. I tried several times to write something like that in my final essay and it never failed to get a high mark.

The other reason I love this book so much is that halfway through it, I guessed the ending. I got so thrilled in a way that it almost felt like a high (not that I have ever been high) And when it ended, I cried, not only because it's such a wonderful masterpiece of its own, I felt the author, I agreed with him, I can see him writing the stories with his pen, as if I was there. With him.  I guess this is maybe the most wonderful feeling a reader can have, to get this connection with not only the book but the brain behind it. I will always keep a copy somewhere in my bookshelf.

"Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice."

The Last Quarter of The Moon (额尔古纳河的右岸) - Chi Zijian, China

I have to put this one right after the Hundred Years of Solitude, why? This book reminded me so much of that, a completely different story, a totally different writing style, but while I was at it, I couldn't stop thinking about the Latin masterpiece.

Chi Zijian is one of my favorite contemporary writers, and she's so graceful. The original name of the book in Chinese is "The Right Bank of the Argun River "  "Argun" in Mongolian means  "baby, treasure." I still remember how I loved the translation of the book name when I found it in a Japanese bookstore in a foreign land, years after I first read it in Chinese. It kept the essence of the book, yet so poetic. Her other books are just as wonderful, the book Peaks of Mountains is something you have to read too!

And guess what? I figured the ending halfway through the book too.

"A long-time confidante of the rain and snow, I am ninety years old. The rain and snow have weathered me, and I too have weathered them."

And The Mountains Echoed - Khaled Hosseini, Afgha-America

You must know his first book, or even saw the movie, The Kite Runner. I cried every time I watch that movie or read the book, it reminded me of our own greatest Lu Xun and his friend Runtu back in early 1900, the relationship, love, loyalty, master and servant, pride, honor, the inevitable change.

And when I read Hosseini's third book, again, the bestseller, I couldn't finish it in one go, I am a very fast reader, but this one I tried several times to pick up and have to drop it again so that I would stop crying. The last time I have to do something like this with a book is Gone with the wind, but that's a bit different too, I read the beginning of gone with the wind for like 20 times until I can continue, and once I did, I finished that book in one afternoon.

And The Mountains Echoed is very different from the previous two books of the author, yet, it's still very very Hosseini. And while the story was opened in the year 1952, reading it never failed to remind me of my desert days and stories that happened there. It's as if it's my own personal treasure box. And I have nothing but the fond memories there. I can smell the heat, I can smell the Arabic scent. It's a book to tell us how we love.

I post the book once on Instagram and one friend commented: "I cried my eyes out reading it."

So you know what I mean?

"Every day, he labored from dawn to sundown, plowing his field and turning the soil and tending to his meager pistachio trees. At any given moment you could spot him in his field, bent at the waist, back as curved as the scythe he swung all day. His hands were always callused, and they often bled, and every night sleep stole him away no sooner than his cheek met the pillow."

West With the Night - Beryl Markham, England

It's a book I randomly picked in the bookstore one raining, humid summer afternoon in Shanghai. I like the feeling of either taking a nap when it's stormy outside or hide in a bookstore lost in an interesting book. West with the night is that interesting book I picked. 

I have a weird obsession with Africa. I've been to places but haven't set my foot in the land of that magic raw continent just yet. You must know that not because I can't, it's just one flight away from Dubai before, even now it's just two international flights away. I want it to be like coming home, I want it to be special, that I am waiting for the perfect timing to go.

Or maybe there's no such thing as perfect timing. Things happen in so many mysterious ways, and if we ask why all the time something happens, we'd banging our head to the wall until it bleeds, multi times already.

Beryl lived in Keyna with her father while her mother and brother stayed in England. Her father built her a "Bourgeois" cabin on the farm, she races horses and flies planes. She spent an adventurous childhood among native Africans and became the first licensed female horse trainer in Kenya.

I've watched the movie "Out of Africa" long ago, the movie is based on the memoir of Danish writer Karen Blixen.  I have to say the movie made the book so much more influential than Beryl's book. But in so many ways, I loved this book far more than Out of Africa. Out of Africa is a love story, with West with the night, I can imagine Beryl, sit in the coach, in the cabin of Keyna, where she spent almost her whole life, slowly telling the story in her posh English accent,

"I have learned that if you must leave a place that you have lived in and loved and where all your yesteryears are buried deep, leave it any way except a slow way, leave it the fastest way you can. Never turn back and never believe that an hour you remember is a better hour because it is dead. Passed years seem safe ones, vanquished ones, while the future lives in a cloud, formidable from a distance."

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte, England

I was a Charlotte Bronte fan, Jane Eyre was highly recommended when we are in school, and I love the book, I still have the CD of the 1943 version of the movie starred Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine. So from a young age to most of my teen years, I read this book religiously. I tried to read Wuthering Heights, the second sister's book in my early teens but gave up pretty quickly, I thought it was too dark. What did I know then?

Fast forward to desert years, I read the book in English and completely fall in love. I grow love into this book day by day and that I thought it's far better than Jane Eyre now. The sky was never clear throughout the entire book, and I loved it, my heart ached for Heathcliff and Cathy.  That love is rough; love is beyond death; love is to its eternity. When Heathcliff finally lay beside Cathy's tomb, for the first time in forever, the sky of England finally starts to clear.

It's definitely a book that you have to read after you gain some experience, in love and in life. I read this book every Christmas, with a cup of black coffee, no milk nor sugar.

"If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger."

Anil's Ghost - Michael Ondaatje, Sri Lanka- Canada

Have you ever watched the heartbroken movie called "English patient"? You loved it?! Great, do you know who's the writer of the original book?

Yes, Michael Ondaatje, Sri Lankan Canadian writer, who amazes me every day with his poetic writing. Anil's Ghost is a love letter to his home country, the beautiful, troubled country, the pearl of the Indian Ocean.

I have a dear friend from Sri Lanka. She told me about the civil war, that she and her family have to fleed to Singapore and only moved back recently after the war ended. I was dying to know more about the history of the country and found this book.

I recently read it again.

By the Indian Ocean.

Although I read it at the beach, it's definitely not a lighthearted book; you have to immerse yourself in it, it's a book about love, identity, the history, the unknown enemy. "Who is this Sailor? Why is he here? What happened to him? How could we identify him if there's only a skeleton left?"

I was never a fan of any ghost story, I'm way too sunflower for that, but this one, this one ghost, caught my eyes and caught my heart.

Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy now if you haven't read it.

 “A person will walk through a hundred doors to carry out the whims of the dead, not realizing he is burying himself away from the others.”

 

I will stop here, for now, it's 3:10 am and I do have a full day ahead of me with a lot of commitment. So better get some sleep:)

I hope you read the books and let me know how you feel about them!

All opinions my own. All photos by me shot everywhere.

---

by juliette

bā lí kè｜Nobody Walks in Bali

First of all, what a charming village!  Ungasan is at the very south end of Uluwatu, the Melasti beach is just 7 mins drive away, so the ocean air is right by your ear and on your skin. But the village had a mixed of local Balinese, a touch of Modern European, out far, there are valley and jungle,  and because it was wintertime here, it felt a bit like Africa to me too!  I was overwelmed for a moment and couldn't quite figure out where I was, and gosh I live for those moments honestly.

I know, curiosity killed the cat but I am that girl who just likes to walk into places and guess what, the results are usually very rewarding! All you need is to say hi!

The first neighbour I came across was an Australian lady, (surprise surprise, there are Australian on this island!) we had a little chat and learned that she'd been here for 26 years. What a life!  It can be a very romantic reason for you to move to an island in the first place, but it must be some true calling that you'd spent almost all your life in this one place. She was on her balcony while I was outside on the street, and there are dogs coming around and playing with me, I thought they were her dogs but then the other lady from another villa came out and calling for their names.  And she invited me to her house for a cup of coffee too! See, just a short walk and I've made some friends.

Of course, it won't be just the expats living in villas, I made some local friends too. Remember last time at the beach I met a grandpa who only says yes to every single thing I asked? This time I met a grandma who was curious about everything on me, of me. " Where are you coming from? How old are you? Why are you here? Where did you get this dress? What are you drinking? Do you live here? Where do you live? I don't think she cares about the answer, because I said nothing to any of the questions above and she just kept staring at me and laughed. What a creature!

I've met two boys who were trying to fly a kite under the mango tree. Two very skinny cows mowing at me, and then, I walked passed a very tiny tin-roof house. It was so tiny as if it was made up for a stage play. I heard the baby crying, and then there came the grandma, the mom, the sister, but not a man. I wanted to talk to them, but none of them speaks English. I would love to know their story.

There are about 10-12 houses on this side of the village, and not a long walk later, I have come to the deserted area. Where I call it "my Africa". The dogs didn't even bother to follow me here, so I had the place entirely my own, though there was the trail down to the jungle, I didn't meet a single soul there. And I loved that.

Sunset in the village

It was a gorgeous sunset that day. It's always a perfect sunset day here. I decided to chase the sun a little, and for that, I need to cross the street to the other side of the village, where I know nothing about. It's right there but it never accrues to us to check it out.

I was a very independent child from a very young age, I mean my mom dropped and picked up my brother from kindergarten to high school. I, on the other hand, begged my parents if I can bike to school at the age of 9. I know it's not even legal but after my mom followed me for a few days and made sure I can handle the trip on my own, (my school is very close to my house), she trusted me and let me had the freedom to bike to school every day from grade 4-grade 6.

I'd have all this freedom afterschool. I once tried a shortcut and stopped to watch a snake and a frog fight, and forgot about the time. (a story for another time. ) What I like to do most is to stop and wait to see the sun slowly set until it completely disappears. I always wanted to capture the moment that the afternoon turned into evening. But no matter how long I stare at it, no blinking at all, I never just get it, it's always somehow changed the color from dusty pink to deep ocean blue in less than a second time and my eyes are not quick enough to catch I guess.

But this time, maybe because I didn't expect it, so it happened. Like the time I saw the green light over Alaska while flying. I saw the color change in front of me and my eyes could not believe it. It made me so happy I was telling the local girl standing next to me that I saw the magical moment, I think she understands nothing but she's as happy as I did and we jumped and yelled, made the dogs bark too.

 

It's not what it looks like, not always

I know this island is full of Australian but funny enough, the only two times I thought someone is Australian, they turned out to be both Kiwi:). It proves once again that not everything is what it looks like, even when they are incredibly close. If it's not, it's not. It taught me always to stay open-minded and to embrace everything with my open arms. Everybody has a story to tell, and I can not wait to hear them.

Maybe it is true, most of us don't walk in Bali, but when we do, it certainly does something to you, it moves you, in the little alley, in the deserted land, in a small indomart, in a little girl's smile.

On an island famously known for slowing down, aren't we driving a bit too fast?

Slow down my love, slow down, come walk with me, I will share my cup of coffee, and take you to the deserted land too. And If we are really lucky, the mere moment, the magic second from the afternoon to the evening will appear again.

All photos by me shot in Bali, Indonesia.

---

by juliette

Balike | Where Is Home?

---

by juliette

Milan | An Italian Job

Milan rains a lot in autumn, the typical Mediterranean weather. I like it when it rains, it adds a moist thin layer to the yellow, more mysterious. To add more mystery, I decided to see the Cathedral of Milan.

From where I am staying to Duomo is very close and I finally paid a visit. It was raining too, and way too many people, and even more pigeons. I got people who're selling things there forced me to stand still and called what I know all the pigeons to my arm and ask me to feed them. And just when I am busy crying and freaking out they tied a colorful African string made of thread on my wrist and asking for money, the string was tied up so tight that there's no way you can return it in one piece, so I smiled at them and said I have WeChat or Alipay if you take any, and they were asking for cash only and I just shrug and they smiled, and said it's fine, it's okay. Oh the hell is fine, I didn't want this ugly thing in the first place to be on my wrist and you forced me to take it and ask for money, I really don't understand this kind of invasive selling tricks and left that place immediately. The Cathedral is still beautiful and majestic though.

Til this day, I still have this ugly string on my wrist, only I call it the lucky charm now, ha.

---

by juliette

Balibaba | Nothing Is Ever Really Lost

 

Know that you are my safe harbor and I will come to you again and again as long as you will have me.

And so I did.

---

by juliette

Manchester | Red Brick Walls

 

Manchester made me realized that London is not the whole UK, just like how people always say Shanghai is not the real China. I was living in a bubble.

But that's why we travel right? To see things, to experience the uncomfortableness, to seek the truth.

I may or may not return to this city in the future, because nobody knows what's gonna happen tomorrow. But I will remember the smiley Ali from the Treehouse Cafe, who gave me a discount just because she thinks I am lovely(shy). All the people who gave me the way on the roundabout when I got so confused without any signal directions. The girl at the McDonald's wants to know where I get my jumper, and the shop owner was wondering if I was having a study break while I was getting a bottle of chocolate milk.

All in all, I had a lovely time here and you should come and experience it too if you haven't been!

Oh, if I have to give you one advice, or rather, a warning, beware of the city bus drivers, if you don't know the rules, they might make you cry.

Just might.

All photos by me shot in Manchester, United Kingdom.

---

by juliette

Wuzhen | Last Monday in March

Lies within the triangle formed by Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Shanghai, Wuzhen is famous for so many reasons, an ancient water town to start with, it is also home to the world internet conference, and the annual Wuzhen Theatre Festival, just to name a few.

And the reason I like it is because of a man. Two actually, two writers. Mao Tun is a household name; every Chinese studied his work in school. His book <The Midnight> is a must-read, it's a window to Shanghai in the 30s, the most complicated, chaotic time there was.

And then there's Mu Xin. Writer, painter, poet, and a true artist.

I saw a picture of Mu Xin when he was young much earlier than his poem of his that went viral on the internet a few years ago. Staring at that black and white picture, I murmured "He must come from that time", he looked like a prince, a true gentleman. He was also the mentor of the famous artist Chen Danqing. While Mo Gan Shan is now considering " the hotspot for a weekend retreat, Mu Xin has done his fair share with that place many moons back. He's ahead of us and ahead of his time.

I was obsessed with him for quite a while now and bought all the books I can find about him. Little did I know that Mu Xin met Mao Tun before and he borrowed a lot of books from the Shen Family(Mao Tun's original name is Shen Yanbing, Mao Tun is his pen name).

I love reading his essays, so lightweight but heart-fulfilling.  I think we can be friends if we ever met. But that can only be a dream now. After many years of living abroad, Mu Xin returned to his birthplace in 2006 and died there in 2011 December, aged 84.

He took the charm and class that only belongs to his time with him. I am always a little sad when I can only use the past tense to mention someone. But life must go on and luckily he left us an unmeasurable amount of treasure that we can benefit from forever. And now every time I pick one of his books from the shelf, I will remember the first black and white picture that I ever saw of Mu Xin.

Don’t you get fooled by the blonde hair and blue eyes, this Hong Kong-born, Beijing-raised French cutie shared the same childhood memory with me. We ate the same childhood snacks, and tasted the same Chinese popsicles, I’m talking about the ’90s, baby! We eat tea-cooked egg as an afternoon snack and munch on the slow soy milk cooked corn, proof: as shown in the photos.

Obviously, we have something more in common than just the childhood snack collections. We spent a Sunday together and basically became inseparable ever since. She consistently wants to raid my closet and I've been very aware of no longer using a plastic straw, ever! We share the same love for art, food, travel, fashion, and cute mixed Canadian boys.

 

Xi Zha- West Fence

Rather in an unconventional way, we started our visit from Xi Zha- West Fence ( Literal translation, but you got the image), whilst most of the tourists would start the tour in Dong Zha - East Fence and come over to Xi Zha at night for the light show. We were only here for the day, surely we are going to miss the light show anyway, we figured it doesn't really matter which end we start.

So it goes.

Xi Zha has in total of 12 islands, connected by 70-something bridges. It has all these long quiet flagstone alleys paved among the hotels and resorts. Yes, Xi Zha has excellent hotels with terraces facing the water. I seriously don't mind switching off my phone for a week and just hiding in one of these rooms to read and write.

I like how quiet and serene this place is. We were definitely not alone, despite it being the early spring and the weather is not as warm as it seems, we still had a lot of company. But it didn't feel like a touristy place where it was loud, busy, and noisy. Everyone really just minding their own business. Everybody is connected with this place and wanted to keep it within them. Annabelle and I accidentally walked into a room and couldn't find our way out for quite a while. But that's okay too, the room itself was an interesting history page for us to discover and we eventually find the hidden push button to open the door and back on the flagstone pavements.

Dong Zha - East Fence

If we heard nothing in the West Fence, we are about to hear everything in the East.

If the West is a nicely and carefully curated half of Wuzhen, the East would be the authentic original, raw, organic another half of the water town.

Why authentic, original and raw? There are people who still live here! They are of course the resident of Wuzhen from the very beginning. But like everywhere else, you would think that once something or someplace develops into a tourist spot, you would relocate the people and make it the tourist spot where you charge the admission, but here, the woman still washes the vegetables by the dock in the water. Granny still bakes the same pie she would bake for the grandchildren, only now she sells them to the outsiders too.

My favorite part of this side of the tour was when we stepped into a place where tourists suppose to stop, but the boy who is also a local decided to feed our curiosity and let us pass. We got the chance to see what the local's houses really looked like and what their lives are. After the main entrance, which serves as a front living room, we came into a courtyard where the flowers and grannies are. I felt like they were been living like this for the last century and nothing much has changed, sure they have AC and maybe internet now, but the layout of the house, the way how they prepare their dinner, you can easily place them back to the 1970s and it would most probably still fit in that time. At some point I was indeed Alice in wonderland and fell into the rabbit hole, I can't really figure out where I was, and which year it is. All the noise out before that door was muted. I only remember the sun reflected and saw a spider's web on the corner terrace of the second floor.

I was born in a water town too, and so was the late Jin Yong (Louis Cha Leung- Yung GBM OBE). The legendary Wuxiao novelist once wrote about his hometown, " 如果你到过江南， 会想到那些燕子， 那些杨柳与杏花，那些微雨中的小船。“ ("If you have been to Jiangnan, you will think of the swallows, the weeping willows and the yellow apricots, and those tiny boats in the spring drizzle" )  It certainly lost some of its charms while being translated into English, even the word "Jiangnan" stands for a heavenly place in Chinese rather than just a region south of the Yangtze River. But when I first read those words of his, I felt I have been SEEN and HEARD.

I went to boarding school when I was 11, and never really return home ever since then. So whenever I think about my hometown, I go through my younger memories. I think about the yellow apricot blossoms and the boats in the spring rain. The black sallows fly through and over the weeping willows.

And on the last Monday in March 2019, I got to live that memory again. I was 9 years old again. And the weeping willows and the boats in the rain, they are all coming back to me.

As a matter of fact, they never left.

All photos by Annabelle and me shot in Wuzhen, China.

---

by juliette

Balibaba | La Isla Bonita, Nusa Penida

Where should I begin?  Ah Nusa Penida, a place so close to paradise.

You probably have seen these pictures on Instagram a million times already. Me too, but it was only when I got there that I realized what a wonderful thing to be alive and witness all things of beauty in person.

I don't know why would we decide to go party the night before, knowing that we need to get up at 5 am the next day. But if you follow my wife on social media, you would see some of our infamous photos with blurry faces and #poordecisionmaker hashtags. To her, it all makes sense.

So when the driver showed up in front of our door as scheduled, I was still sound asleep on the sofa where I passed out last night. We literally got ready in less than 10 mins. ( We even showered! I know, respect!) When Bali slowly wakes up at 5:10 in the morning, we three packed a beach bag and headed to Sanur in the dawn.

Guys I really want to help and put out a link, but when I asked wifey for the links, she just sent me two phone numbers, and for privacy reason, I will not post their numbers here but do drop me a line if you would like to know their name and contact to book your adventures too! Our driver in Nusa Penida for the day was an actual angel sent from Heaven, what am I saying, we were in heaven!

Nusa Penida is the largest of three islands off the southeastern coast of Bali, the others being Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan. We took the boat from Sanur and 45 mins later, we arrived on the island, our driver Ketut was already there waiting for us. His smile made the sky brighter and can cure any sadness in the world. I had a feeling that "today is gonna a good good day! "

Kelingking Beach

The first place we went to was Kelingking Beach. This is probably one of the most photographed site ever. The viewpoint can make you have an excellent grasp of the dinosaur shaped cliff edges. It does look like a T- Rex, doesn't it?  We would love to go down to the beach, aka the most beautiful beach we've ever seen. Papi Diego was like let's go down there and swim. What wifey and I said was "we didn't have the swimsuit with us. " He was soooo mad, I know, right? How could you not wearing the swimsuit knowing you are going to the beach! I am mad at myself too!" What was I thinking! So he left us and ventured down 45 mins to swim in that secluded, beautiful turquoise green water. There's one more plus point to this hidden gem, even though it's right down there, not so many of us had the courage to trek down the bamboo railing and so the beach is tranquil and has almost nobody there. Heaven!

Ok, so we learned our lesson the hardest way possible. Bear in mind that it is a very hard trek down, however I am sure it will worth every step of it, but Luiza and I both wore flip flops while all the other people prepared with their backpack and hiking shoes, and I wore all white outfit which is an epic fail, the outfit turned into dark grey in just 10 mins time. And car parking is pretty far from where we were and it's impossible to return and change and back on the trek again. So wear your swimsuit already if you want to go down all the way.

We decided to wait for Papi until he returns, and went to the car to change our outfit. We stopped at one of the shops and had the most delicious coconut! The shop lady told us that she got them just this morning from her uncle's yard. She asked us where we were coming from. When I told her I'm from China, she started to sing a song that's very popular back in the day from a TV drama, and I sang along, it was pretty surreal. She had a great voice by the way.

Angel's Billabong

I thought we were heading to the broken beach, but Ketut took us to this place first, I didn't know this place and only during our visit I learned that it is called Angel's Billabong and it's simply breathtaking.

Me and wifey are the masters of winning at life, why are we wearing all these inappropriate shoes! It was quite slippy and dangerous to walk down, let alone swim. So we just sat down and simply admired the view! We are coming at a low tide time and it's relatively safe to swim actually.

Angel's Billabong is a rock formation with nature built-in rock pool. Nusa Penida is famous for its coastline and from Angel's Billabong, you can have this infinity pool view of the Indian ocean coast! As hard as we tried, we got the shot with just each one of us, but please keep in mind that you will almost never have the pool alone to yourself.

Just a kind reminder that it takes about another 45 mins drive from Kelingking cliff to here so be easy on the coconut water intake. We almost peed our pants but we made it to the closest toilet which is, ...here, 45 mins later, so, just thought it's useful and helpful to share, no? TMI?

Broken Beach

Broken beach, just as its name implies, was broken. It's not actually broken, the reason why they named it "broken beach" is because of the arch. Sometimes you just have to hand down to the mother nature for the wonders she created that no human can ever achieve. Thousands( Insert Liya: Try millions Jooj.) of years of erosion made the broken beach a spectacular site for us traveling half of the earth to pilgrimage today.

Although, because of the name, I couldn't help but wonder if mother nature was indeed heartbroken at that time. And if she was, what was it about? The war, the damage we did to her? Plastic in the ocean, iceberg melting?

Yes Joey, now that was a thinker.

Crystal Bay Beach

Crystal Bay beach is just as beautiful and the only beach that is approved by Ketut for us to swim. Boy was he right! The current was not crazy and temperature perfect. I even went in for a dip too!

While Papi was holding my hands in the water cuz I was still a bit scared, we saw something very sweet, a girl was trying to teach her mom how to swim, and it reminded me of my own mommy and how much I wanted to write her a letter from this island. We always thought mom knows everything and can do everything for us until one day she asks us for help, maybe an English menu that she can't read anymore, or how to online shopping, and those were the moment that made me understand that it might be true each mom is a superwoman, it also feels nice to be protected by her child too. My mom always says I'm stronger than a boy and has a brave heart, and that she's proud of me. I know behind all these words, she knows she can rely on me and I know I will protect her.

With all those thoughts in my head, I fell asleep by the bay and had some marshmallow cloud dreams. You know, like somewhere over the rainbow.

When it was time for us to leave the island and head back to Bali, Ketut helped us negotiated a deal and got us to sit on the deck of the boat!

As the boat started to head back home at full speed, I took a final glance of the fascinating island over my shoulder, the sun started to set into the coconut trees and somewhere by the port, a group of girls was singing a sad old Chinese song.

"In that place wholly faraway..."

All photos by me and Diego Gonzalez shot in Nusa Penida, Indonesia.

---

by juliette