From Brunei, we headed (via two long ferry trips and one rescheduled Air Asia flight…this seems to be the norm with Air Asia) to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital city.  I miss big cities when I’m away from them for too long, so I was happy to see that KL, as it’s called, is a busy metropolis whose night markets were still bustling at 11:30 p.m. on a Monday night. We spent Tuesday morning exploring the city and, thanks to my new arch nemesis, Air Asia, passed Tuesday afternoon in the KL airport. 

It was near midnight when we finally got to Bali, but we still found time for dinner and drinks in Kuta, a busy, beachside town popula
Sufer at Sunset
ted predominantly by Australian surfers and 20-something backpackers.  Kuta was the site of the 2002 terrorist bombings that took 300 lives and decimiated, for awhile, this island’s tourist industry.  We visited the memorial to the victims, which listed their names in long, stately columns.  It stood in sharp contrast to all of the debauchery taking place just next door, where partiers danced the night away in rebuilt versions of the clubs that had been bombed.

We spent the night in a very nice bungalow in Kuta.  And then we checked into paradise (which is, as it turns out, technically called Sesari Villas) in the nearby beach town of Seminyak. 
Seminyak
I think that all I need to say by way of a description is this: as i write this, I’m sitting on a lounge chair next to our private pool.  I can hear a Jack Johnson song over the gentle sounds of the waterfall that trickles into the pool.  In front of me is an outdoor room composed entirely of marble, carved, wooden furniture, Balinese art and, oh yeah, our private kitchen (where 2 chefs come to make us breakfast in the morning). 
Sesari
I’ll cut myself off here so that I don’t draw the ire of everyone reading this, but suffice to say that, if anyone’s in need of a romantic vacation (that is shockingly affordable, thanks to the strength of the US dollar against the Indonesian rupiah and the fact that this is Bali’s low season), this is the place for you!

Our days have been spent on the gorgeous beach a few minutes away from our villa watching the surfers ride (or, in many cases, attempt to ride) the big waves here.  After watching the incredible sunsets, we’ve been sampling the fare at the many restaurants in the area.  Not a bad way to spend a few days…