Goodbye Bangkok, Hello Bali

* The Roaming Coconuts are having some technical difficulties right now hence the sideways photos, however, the internet is slow and we are tired so please bear with us and tilt your heads.

4:45 Don Muaeng Airport, Bangkok.

We’re staring at the sushi restaurant in front of us, wondering who could possibly want to eat raw fish at this hour. But maybe we’d feel differently if we hadn’t just devoured a total of seventy five slices of sashimi a few hours ago. It was our last meal in Thailand, and as we’re planning on being on a shoestring budget for the next few months, we decided to treat ourselves to one final extravagant dinner at a high-end Japanese buffet.

What we ate:

40 pieces of salmon sashimi
15 pieces of tuna sashimi
20 pieces of octopus sashimi
Asparagus and bacon
Edamame
Pork katsu curry
Spicy tuna salad
Calamari
1 Philly roll
3 orders of soft shell crab
3 milk cheese pudding (it’s better than it sounds)
1 caramel custard
1 Japanese red bean dessert

I think it’s safe to say we got our money’s worth ($25 each, or the equivalent of our new daily budget). However, that didn’t stop us from spending the rest of our Thai change on a 5 am tuna sandwich from Subway at the airport.

We arrived in Bali at 10:30 am, exhausted after having to wake up at 3 am to catch a taxi to the airport. After checking into our hotel we headed to the beach to rest.

However, we were soon accosted by a large group of students from a nearby island.
“Picture miss, please!” they asked, wide – eyed.

Silvia and I looked at each other skeptically.

“Well ….. okay.”

I’m constantly taking pictures of people so I felt like it was only fair that when the roles were reversed I be a willing participant. But one group of students turned into ten, and suddenly we were surrounded by a sea of village children turned paparazzi, excited at the prospect of getting a picture with a couple of white girls in bikinis – a rarity where they are from. I’m sure the parents of these modestly dressed, head-scarf-wearing girls will be eager to frame the pictures. The students were so adorable that we didn’t mind the spectacle it created, especially as it helped us meet our new local best friend.

Who introduced us to these guys:

And these guys:

And this guy:

 

So far we love Bali.