I fell in love with Pina Coladas very early on.  They came inside a pineapple, with bendy straws and pretty accompaniments like mini parasol umbrellas and carved fruit. Very exotic and handy for a snack when you’ve finished drinking. And very fitting for sipping during happy hour at the pool bar – picture postcard perfect.  Happy hour …

Years ago I used to drive myself around in rental cars in Bali.  You need to note that the traffic was not nearly as bad as it is now so I wasn’t insane or madly adventurous.  Most of my driving was in the countryside, although I have driven through Kuta on occasion.  It used to be far easier …

My first foray into a day spa was more confronting than I would have liked.  It was many years ago, when spas were just starting to pop up around Bali.  It was not like today where spas are everywhere and groups of young women try to coax you in for a treatment. This particular spa was in …

I was a student nurse when my fellow nurse friend J suggested going to Bali for our holidays. It would be my first overseas trip by plane. I had been on a cruise around the pacific islands 3 years before. But Bali? I knew nothing about it. She did. She’d been twice before so knew …