Adventures in Bali

Earlier this year, Team JMS spent some time regrouping in Bali, Indonesia. It was a much needed break after our crazy end of term. Some highlights include soaking in the culture in Ubud, white water rafting on the Ayung river, hiking Mount Batur (a volcano) for sunrise, taking the Lobong Balinese cooking class, and getting our PADI Open Water Diver certification with World Diving in Nusa Lembongan. It was great to take some time out for the two of us. Check out our pics below!

Cheers,
Team JMS


- - Ubud - -

We stayed in a really nice hotel for a night in Ubud ...

 ... with an outdoor shower! It was the coolest feature.

Ubud Palace

 

 

Monkeys on a roof!

Rafting with friends!

- - Hiking Mount Batur - -

Sunrise over Lake Batur, mountain peaks in the distance from Lombok Island

Offering to the Gods on the top of the mountain

Volcanic steam

 Volcanic steam and walking along a tiny ridge

On solid ground! With Mount Batur in the background

 - - Lobong Cooking Experience - -

     We started with a trip to the local market to buy the ingredients for the meal.

 
 Then we got to preparing the courses!
 

Once everything was ready, we made an offering to the Gods at the family's temple, and then we ate!

 

- - Nusa Lembongan - -
   Getting ready to dive!

 

After we passed our course, we rented scooters to tour the island. We ended up on the smaller, but taller Nusa Ceningan island where there were some great views, and we found our way to Devil's Peak where the waves and surge were incredible.

Devil's Peak

  

One last drink on the beach

We love Nusa Lembongan!

 

Love Motels and Korea

A large part of the Korean culture is love motels. Kids live with their parents well beyond their adolescent years [acceptable limit] and literally only move out of their parents house when they get married. At that point, their parents buy them an apartment and they live with their spouse. When they go to university and start dating, there is no place to go for privacy, hence the love motel scene. These motels are very discrete, often with hidden garages or fringes at the entrance so that you cannot see who is parking their car. The rooms are rented by the hour and are used almost exclusively for sex. That is, except by foreigners. The expat community capitalizes on these cheap, but clean and usually decent, motels for accommodation purposes. Since we travel to different cities almost every weekend during the ultimate frisbee season, we have frequented many motels. The Hotel 369 was our most pleasant experience. For 60,000 won (often love motels run from 30-70,000), we were able to score a lovely room in Busan just behind the Oncheonjang subway stop and close to Pusan National University. I wanted to share what a nice love motel looks like. This way if you go to one and ask to see the room, you can compare.

The Korean Love motel: it's your home away from home! For 3 hours, give or take.

Most hotels provide slippers

Clean bathroom, including tub with jets!

That's right, there is a TV on the ceiling!

Every thing was classy ... except the red pleather headboard and matching chairs!

 

  Towels, robes, and a loofa were in a drawer

Free drinks in the mini fridge

Guests are given a "bathroom set" when they arrive that holds all the essentials in case you rushed to the motel

Including, but not limited to, toothbrushes, toothpaste, razor, bubble bath, face wash, 

collagen facial mask, condoms, lube, and other sex things

We recommend it!