My Visit To Bali - Part 1

In 2023, I went on a vacation to Bali with my parents. It all started with my school break and my dad's work break. Since it was a last-minute decision, my dad, my mom, and I found ourselves with nothing to do for the next three weeks. With plenty of free time, we decided to spend a large portion of the vacation in Bali, which meant we had to fly there. While everyone else was enjoying their time at their homes, my family was busy packing and preparing for the trip. We planned to fly out on Tuesday.

Tuesday finally arrived—the big day! We headed to the Soekarno Hatta international airport for our flight early in the morning. I was super excited, especially since I love flying. Once we got there, we checked in our suitcases and got in line for security, which was crazy crowded—like a zoo! There were two lines: one for families and one for business travelers, and we had to take the family line. Normally, when Dad’s traveling for work, he skips the family line and takes the business traveler line, which is way faster and more efficient. I totally get why he prefers it. Oh, and here’s a little piece of advice from me, based on this situation: Whenever you see the word "family" in anything, it’s usually a sign that it’s going to be pretty bad. Trust me, I’ve been to enough family restaurants to know exactly what I mean!

Anyway, once we passed through security, we headed to our gate, which was about to open in a few minutes. Then, Mom told me that the flight would last almost two hours. That made me relieved that I had brought some books on my iPad. When we finally boarded, we headed to the middle of the plane because our seats were in the economy section. After a few minutes of settling in and waiting, the pilot came on the intercom and announced that there would be a brief safety video. We didn’t really need to watch it, though, since this wasn’t our first flight, and my parents and I already knew what to do on a plane.

Next thing we knew, we were rolling down the tarmac, and then we were in the air. I’m not gonna lie, I had my head pressed against the window the entire time during takeoff. But once we were airborne, I started smelling baby food coming from the row in front of us. I guess the people in that row had a baby and they were feeding it. I was already feeling dizzy from the takeoff, and the smell of mushed-up avocados and carrots weren’t helping. Somehow, I managed to get through the feeding without throwing up, but I wish I could say the same for some of the other passengers.

A little while later, the captain announced that we would be landing shortly. I looked out the window and saw the ocean and some clouds. We passed through a cloud, and had some turbulence, which was totally normal for a flight like this. As we landed and felt Bali’s tropical rays hit our skin, we instantly understood why they call Bali 'The Island of Paradise.' Traditional Balinese buildings surround the airport and the city. The traditional ornaments were beautiful!

Unfortunately, the traffic was really bad! It took us about an hour to reach our villa in Seminyak, but it was worth it. The villa had a private pool with lounge chairs, a luxury bathroom, a big dining room, a study room, and two bedrooms. There was also a wall around the property for privacy. When we arrived, I quickly put on my swimming trunks, grabbed my goggles, and swam in the pool. We also rented a car so that we can move around freely to enjoy Bali. However, there was one downside for me: I still had to take my online public speaking course, even though it was a holiday!

After a few days in the villa, we went to the Bali Safari Zoo. When we got to the zoo, we stumbled upon a small freshwater area where they had a piranha feeding activity. I was so excited to feed them that I begged Mom and Dad to let me try. They agreed, and before I knew it, I was holding a fishing rod with a piece of meat dangling from the hook. As soon as I dropped it in the water, the piranhas went wild! Within a minute, the meat was gone, and the piranhas looked a bit fatter (or so I thought).

After we left the freshwater exhibit, we walked into a jungle exhibit where they had an activity about feeding a jaguar. I figured feeding one more animal wouldn’t hurt, so I asked my parents if I could try. They said yes, but told me this would be the last animal feeding for the day. When I was ready, they gave me some fish meat and a pair of tweezers. The way it worked was, you dropped the meat into a tube, and it would fall into the water, where the jaguar would swim over and grab it.

After feeding the jaguar, we walked into a tunnel filled with spiders. Since I’m terrified of bugs, that tunnel quickly turned into one of the most traumatizing experiences I’ve had. When we finally made it out, we spotted a bunch of animals, including some flamingos, so we stopped to snap a few pictures. Eventually, we found ourselves back where we started, so we decided to switch things up and take a different path.

We ended up in a part of the zoo with a roller coaster, which was kind of surprising because I thought we were at a zoo, not an amusement park. The roller coaster looked pretty awesome, so I was definitely excited to give it a try. My dad came along since my mom wanted to take pictures of us on the ride. But this wasn’t your typical roller coaster—it was one of those small ones that spins as it goes. I was really hoping my dad wouldn’t get sick, since he usually gets dizzy after spinning a lot. Thankfully, we both made it through without throwing up. But it didn’t really matter in the end, because later, after we left the zoo, my dad ended up throwing up in the hotel bathroom for a solid two minutes.

After that, we looked for something else exciting to do and found out there was a safari ride where we can hop on a small bus that takes us around the zoo. We quickly made our way to the safari bus station, but the lane was so long that it took forever to get there. It took us at least twenty minutes to get to the front of the line, and the fact that the station was outdoors, crowded, and cramped didn’t help at all. 

We jumped on right after the next bus stopped in front of us, grabbed our seats, and waited for the other passengers to get on. After everyone was settled, the driver took off and started the safari tour. She pointed out all the animals and mentioned that the zoo even had a hotel. That got me wondering why mom and Dad hadn’t booked a stay there, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. I mean, how cool would it be to have your windows knocked by elephants, giraffes, or even lions?! 

To be continued...