Kuta, Bali

Today has been a nice and relaxing day spent in Kuta, Bali while I hang-out waiting for my husband to arrive just before midnight tonight.

I am staying two nights at Febri's Hotel & Spa on the main strip in Kuta. I keep thinking of it as Febreeze. And the term 'main strip' brings to mind Las Vegas for me and that is not exactly what it is like. It is more like a medium sized Florida vacation town filled with Australians. This town is probably one of the top budget destinations for Australians. With super cheap roundtrip flights and an economy 100% devoted to tourism, it is comparable to Spain for Europeans and Florida for Americans. It has more souvenir and knock-off clothing & accessory stores and stands than can possibly be sustainable, but it is the beginning of high season here so, what do I know? It also has several Starbucks, McDonalds, and even a Coldstone Cremery and Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant (which I gladly went to).

Yesterday in Ubud, I pampered myself with a seaweed facial. The spa was beautiful and relaxing and empty except for me. It was also an attempt to curb the break out of tiny pimples that has invaded my forehead since arriving in Ubud. I feel like a teenager again. I sweat more than this in Cambodia and Vietnam that is for sure so I can only figure it's source is a combination of my yoga classes, my now two month old straw cap that I wear almost daily, and the cheap hotel soap. The facial and splurging for some Biolage face foam seem to be doing the trick.

I plan to return to the spa in Ubud for a massage when I return for a week starting July 19. I thought the prices seemed reasonable and thought they would be cheaper than I could find in Kuta. Wrong! I found out that I could get an hour and a half massage at Febri's for less than an hour massage in Ubud. So I quickly signed myself up for an hour and a half Lomi Lomi massage this morning at Febri's (USD $20).

As a side note, might I recommend steering clear of partially cooked French toast even if it tastes surprisingly good. I mention this because that is exactly what I did this morning at the hotel's buffet breakfast. I thought I'd be fine, but oh nausea. It made for a rough first part of my Lomi Lomi massage.

Wikipedia defines a Lomi Lomi massage as, "a traditional Hawaiin massage of rubbing, pressing, squeezing, and massaging to work in and out like the claws of a contented cat. Lomilomi is supposed to be more of a holistic healing." I don't know about cat claws, but it was nice. Febri's describes it as a combination of different types of massage including reflexology, shiatsu, Balinese, and Swedish not that that makes it any clearer, though. It wasn't as deep of a massage as I normally like, but that is probably a good thing with the queasiness I was experiencing post- French toast. I did cure the tummy ache, though, and left me feeling very relaxed.