Saying goodbye to Jennifer in Seminyak Bali

Sunday was busy days as far as meeting tourists. At 9pm I was again at JP’s Warung on Jl. Dhyana Pura in Seminyak, this time to meet Jennifer from Oregon (she’s from Ohio, but lives in Oregon). Jennifer has been here a week and just returned from a mini Bali tour.

The way things played out for her, was that she took the Perama bus to Ubud, which she totally loved. Taking my recommendation Jennifer stayed a Nick’s Hidden Cottages, just off of Jl. Raya Ubud, downtown.

Jennifer then hired a local driver to take her to Candi Dasa and Kintamani. During her time in Candi Dasa, she took a local boat to Blue Lagoon, off of Padangbai and snorkeled. Back in Kuta, she did a surf lesson with Pro Surf and brought her teacher, Dedik along to meet me.

Monday midday Jennifer is off to Phuket, this is her first time in Asia, and she old me she may well re-route it to return to Bali in a week or 2. Said Jennifer “New Zealand used to be my favourite place in the world, now Bali is my favourite place.” How about that or a tribute, and she wasn’t just saying that to please me.

With Dedik and Jennifer, we discussed things about Bali and the conversation got to dating. I retold stories of dating locals, where they would come to my house with 2 friends. The friends would come on dates for 3 times, then never come again. Often a bag of fruit would be left at my door, which is a sign of affection, meaning I should reciprocate. All in all dating a Balinese girl is WAY more straightforward in the beginning than a westerner. You can say “You’re pretty, I like you.” and that will be taken for exactly that. Try saying that to a westerner, they’ll think you are mentally ill.

Of course things get complicated by the family / village, getting involved down the track, but on a personal level its pretty basic. Jennifer said that where she lives in Portland, a high percentage ofthe population is either married, or already paired off. Add that to the modern western stress relationship scene, and sounds like a chore rather than pleasure.

Hope Jennifer comes back, and I’ll do another interview, really digging into what makes her tick!

Nick’s Hidden Cottages
Jl. Bisma
Ubud 80571
081 236 66954