We discussed meeting for lunch or hanging out at the beach over the weekend. Then Chad proposed the idea of going to Candidasa for the weekend.
The beautiful white sand beach area of eastern Bali has numerous seaside hotels and resorts with swimming pools that edge right up to the water. Chad likes a good swimming pool overlooking the ocean which is why it’s a regular quick “getaway” for a guy who lives near the ocean in Ulu Watu – the southern tip of Bali.
Chad offered to pick us up in his car and head to a hotel he and his wife Rina like. How could we say no?
Last night Chad, Rina and their adorable five month-old son, Eli stayed the night at our house so we could hang out and be ready to roll in the morning.
Chad and I met when we worked in Taiwan and later worked together recruiting foreign nurses from Singapore, Taiwan, China and Nepal. We initially based ourselves in Bali and went to Singapore as needed and later as things picked up, we got a place in Singapore and spent more of our time there.
Initially, Chad and I shared a house outside Ubud. Working and living together became too much and after a couple of months, Chad got his own house not far away. About the same time, he met Rina. Originally from Java, Rina was working at the liquor counter of the supermarket after graduating university in Bali.
Later, after we had both left the business and had each gone home, Chad found a way to make his own business work in Bali and returned – to the same compound we and then I had lived in.
We individually and together have a history in the compound and in Bali.
This made it all the more fun to hang out together, catch up, talk, and reminisce. We all got to enjoy Eli who has the same grounded calm as his mother.
After a late night talking and laughing, it was fun to wake up, walk outside and see two happy parents playing with a smiling, happy baby.
Emily and I always take great joy in time spent with friends. Spending time with good friends, old friends is even better. Seeing good friends enjoying their lives and in such a good place with everything makes it the best. My heart has been smiling since last night.
After breakfast and Emily getting a little work done, we headed out for the big 1.5 hour trip to Candidasa. The further east you get in Bali, the more beautiful the landscape. Less, developed, more green, more lush, filed with rice terraces – the roads to Candidasa have everything one wants out of Bali – even the ocean.
Because Chad and Rina’s favorite hotel is under renovation, we decided to show up in town without a reservation and use the “drive by” method to locate our lodgings. A few doors, a few twists down some side roads and we found one of the most beautiful beachside places I’ve ever stayed. Aquaria’s contemporary- Balinese styled bungalows line a long sunken swimming pool with a view of the ocean. At the end of the hotel, chaise lounges line a deck overlooking the ocean.
We got adjacent rooms with a large shared patio full of gorgeous Balinese furniture. The huge, light, open rooms have amazing beds and giant, nicely designed bathrooms. It’s a “weekend away” from our already incredible life away at our house in paradise.
The gray day brought some mild rains – which have kept us hanging around the bungalows. So we’re spending it in the best way possible – enjoying good friends on the porches, sitting by the sea when the rains stop, and playing with the cutest, smartest baby on the island.
**Due to my grievous error of forgetting our photo adapter, we are unable to post any of Emily’s spectacular photos today. I am sorry.
Sent from my iPad
