POSTCARDS FROM BALI

1. Go with the flow!

"Uluwatu Temple" by Dorota Quiroz

Dear Friend,
Here I am in Bali and I realize that after I spent over a month on planning, half of my prearranged activities and plans got scraped or cancelled by outside sources.  Be flexible and allow for alterations to the plan. Be open to other possibilities because those will probably make up the most of your trip. I realized that booking local tours is much more economical if it's done there and allows you to alter and accommodate your needs instead of the other way around.

"Jambaran Bay Beach and Seafood feast" by Dorota Quiroz

2. Slow down and smell Kopi Luwak 

Luwak Coffee 

Tea, coffee and coco tasting

Dear Friend,
A small tour geared to your sense of taste and flavor may be just what a doctor ordered for a dull tongue and polluted nostrils. Take a time to taste heavy texture of Luwak coffee and enjoy exhilarating flavors of red ginger tea and tongue twisting heavenly cocoa. Never mind how the coffee beans are processed (yak), but why not try to get if off your bucket list?  A true paradise where you can revive your usually overlooked senses of taste and aroma...

"A feast for the eyes" by Dorota Quiroz

3. Massage your way to serenity

A flower foot bath before massage

Dear Friend,
A massage a day keeps worries away. The body needs the attention of skillful fingers that will find the sore spots and relieve the tension of  tired muscles. The human touch has healing powers and it's available on every corner of every street.

Be wise in your choice and go to establishments with beauty and spa service to guarantee optimal experience. The massage can be often bundled with other services like manicure and pedicure, so agree on the price before the service begins and don't be afraid to bargain, since the competition is steep and you can spend the money you want around the corner if the first price offer is too steep.






Other options include hot springs in Banjar, or  meditation and yoga in Ubud's Yoga Barn, which can complement your physical needs to sooth your body after a long day.

"Banjar Hot spring" by Dorota Quiroz

4. Going solo is the remedy for an overwhelmed soul

"Balinese Doors at Sunhouse Guesthouse" by Dorota Quiroz

Dear Friend,
You can go alone and enjoy Bali as much as if you were in a company of friends or a lover. Balinese people are very polite and outgoing and you can find lots of topics to talk about with people you meet during your stay starting with your driver.

"Ornate doors at Ulun Danu Temple Complex" by Dorota Quiroz

When you are alone, you pay more attention to your surroundings and don't have to compromise your selection of activities to suit another person. There are plenty of opportunities to meet other foreigners, especially if you book organized tours so don't shy away to meet up for dinner or drinks later if the dynamic of the group invites such an arrangement!

"Balinese doors at Rumah Jepun" by Dorota Quiroz

5. Going with a friend is a remedy for a lonely soul

Dear Friend,
You can go with a friend to enjoy Bali as much as if you were going alone. Make sure you travel with a person you love, who you can put up with and have a great time with.... Leave whiners, party poopers, room sitters and monologists at home to truly enjoy what Bali has to offer.

"Bird cages on Sanur Beach" by Dorota Quiroz

This adventurous island begs for a company of go-getters, bucket list checkers and people wanting to experience life to the fullest. Even if you don't attend to the same activities during a day, you can meet up in the evening for a delicious meal and conversation of sharing your impressions, inspiring each other to make the next day even more exciting!

"Balinese boats at Sanur Beach" by Dorota Quiroz

6. Travel light and leave lots of space in suitcase for sarongs and string pants

Dear friend,
Bring a big suitcase, but pack very little. You will find that Bali is loaded with street stands and shops that offer a wide range of funky clothing, sarongs and other curious knick-knacks at bargain prices. The more you buy the better price you can get.

"Balinese lanters" by Dorota Quiroz

Also, never jump on the first offer either! Pick items you are interested in first, and then ask for price. Come back with counter offer. The bargain "war" will begin and it's often a normal procedure in Bali. If it's more than you expected, start walking away. The further you get away from the seller the lower the price! I found beautiful sarongs and walked away with 4 of them for $10! (rupiahs 13,000)

"Gentle Giant" by Dorota Quiroz

7. Live at present, not in future or in past

Dear Friend,
When you come to Bali, you must leave your worries behind and also you must NOT start planning your return trip before you leave! When you pass the huge Hindu gate at the airport, imagine yourself entering another world. Leave you preconceptions, assumptions and fears behind and enter as if you were entering heavenly gates.

"Uluwatu Temple Gate" by Dorota Quiroz

Even though you will see a lot of poverty, run down places and things that might stand out as eye sores, this is a paradise island that does offer "heavenly" things that we think of when we think of perfect vacation: beautiful sites, exciting culture, abundant nature and soothing views. It gets under your skin undetected and it lingers long after you have left it behind.

"Royal Palace wall" by Dorota Quiroz

At the end of your trip you will catch yourself thinking about your calendar and the next time you can travel back to Bali to recuperate your spirit and soul again.

"Lovina Beach" by Dorota Quiroz

MY DAD - MY HERO

Dear Dad, I wrote this narrative especially for you! Your love and support throughout my life made me feel like I was the most beloved daughter in a whole wide world and I thank you for that.  

I love you and HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

 

FATHER'S LOVE

There was never more devoted father to his daughter since the beginning of time... 

When she was born, she was so tiny and fragile that it seems she would fall apart like a smoke through his hands. Her weak and vulnerable body bent dangerously, ready to snap under the pressure of his kissing lips or disperse like a dandelion seeds in a wind, when he put his nose next to her neck to inhale her sleepy smell. 

His adoration of her was his Easter Sunday mass on any average weekday. 

He announced her importance with stubborn clicks of his camera, recording reflections of light in her eyes, capturing the glistening of reddish highlights in her limp hair. The stacks of photos were his painter's swatches, a composite portrait of grimaces, moods, expressions, mimics and reactions. 

He believed that she was given to him as a guiding ray of light for his own dismantled life. She had the power to put him back together, glue back all the broken pieces of his mangled spirit, shattered by poverty and aimless existence. 

With her birth on a cold November day, like a lifelong cripple who finally touched the tip of the holly statue, he miraculously stood up on his own two feet, able to climb unforeseen monstrous peaks of the highest kind in order to fulfill his obligation of a saved sinner. She was his second chance at life, like an unexpected release from a prison after life-long sentence for a heinous crime . 

He was her bodyguard. 
He would fight for her to his last shallow breath, sheltering her glowing face from the blue shade of sad trees. 
He would defend the greenery of her eyes from mean dusty wind.
He would silence obnoxious crows and canaries alike from muffling her shimmering laughter.  
He was her devoted slave and an obedient servant, refusing to run away, if his freedom was granted and begging to stay, if it wasn't. 

He was the connoisseur of her likes and things that made her cringe, yet it has never prevented him from introducing new flavors, ideas and experiences to enrich her world.

He was her tour guide who encouraged his patron to leave no stone overturned with curious fingers and never-ending questions. He welcomed her challenging statements and forceful arguments, as if he was a blacksmith with a raw iron in his hands, forging it into a lethal weapon to conquer the beautiful world. 

When she created, he knew that he was a part of it. 

When she painted, he was the gesso soaked into the canvas, the camel hair of the brush stuck in between the layers of glaze, or maybe the turpentine mixed with thick oils. He glistened like a top coat varnish reflecting bright light of a sunny room and was present in the trembling fingers managing skinny brush marks into a small signature and date. 

When she took photographs, he was in a multiple shutter click of her camera, in a zoom of the shot and in a black frame of artful composition. 

When she wrote a story, he was in spaces between the letters and in the grammatical errors of her sentences. Her paragraphs were held together by the buttresses of his encouragement, as the paintings were supported by an easel and a camera stood on a tripod. 

Acting as a dedicated doctor, who hovers over his weak recovering patient, he administered his medicine carefully. He refrained from poisonous criticism and injected into her life stream a miraculous dose of fortitude on a daily basis. Her optimism and confidence grew viciously. Her strength was like an onion when peeled. A layer upon layer is discovered, each one more powerful than the last one.  

Then one day, she grew up...

When she flew away, he wept loudly like Kochanowski after his beloved Ursula, without anyone hearing his voice. Her absence removed his vocal cords and made him a mute. He had nothing to say anymore and the steaming temperature of his heated conversations became freezing cold. She was his prism through which he was able to see the world as a beautiful and a just place but he became blind the instance she disappeared from his life.   

The memory of his little girl was the only sustaining element of his life and the beat up old boxes full of photographs were the only food keeping his soul alive..."

MY DAD, MY HERO!