Rainy season

Rainy season is fully ongoing here in Bali. Driving the roads at the moment, you see more or less just the raincoats on the bikes. The local people told me that it started this year a bit earlier than usually. And I always answered "Aaah that's so ok, a bit rain, no care, because it's still warm". Yes in fact it is...comparing to Europe. But when you are used to the weather here, getting wet on the scooter feels super cold. I never thought, I would be very happy about my only pair of socks here in the evening.
It is my first rainy season living in a tropical place. And this is a new experience and lessons I had to learn. F. e. never close your wardrobe, always leave everything open and use the AC more....as everything is humid and mouldy. As I just opened my backpack I got shocked....all leather things, my belt, my purse and a bag...mouldy! But ok, it's normal. And at the end these are just things I never used.
The amount of rain is huge...I never had that hard rain like here. At some points I would be happier about a boat, instead of a motobike :-) Our surf camp got twice completely flooded, as the river brought a big swell with it.

But there are also good things in the rainy season. I finally have a lot of time to read my books, chilling in my new chillout area in the living room I created (never thought, painting a mandala could be so calming), playing chess at our warung or listening to the guitar playing of my friends, we sometimes even dance in the rain outside :-) this is a completely new feeling of freedom.

What's else new? I had visit from the Wasner brothers from Ulm :-) the guys travelled thru Bali and stopped for some days in Canggu. What a fun we had.

And I finally have my first very own motobike :-) It's a kind of a modified scooter, or better say a scooter, which likes to be a crossmachine :-). It has not really a proper light (backlight doesn't exist), no speedometer, no fuel gauge, it's loud and quick. But it's mine and I love it!

Small escape...

"I gotta get away sometimes(get away, get away)

I got to get away

I gotta slip away sometimes(get away, get away)

I got to slip away to my special place..."

Happy 40th birthday to me

It was easy always saying how old I was...Until the day came some days ago, when I turned 40. It sounds old, isn't it? But I saw many weeks ago a very nice quote saying "They say we not age by years but by stories we have to tell". Yes, absolutely right and I have a lot of them to tell. And yes age is nothing but a number at the end, as I never feel like I am 40 already.
Turning 30 ten years ago was way harder. I was always thinking like, with 30 you have to finally get serious, maybe settle down, and I was always saying now I am old, I could not even have blue hair again. You see I was pretty silly when I turned 30, cause since then I got crazier than I ever was before.
My birthday started in the morning with a completely swollen and closed right eye :-( I couldn't believe that a mosquito bit me in the night that bad. So I went to my 2 classes that day as a one-eyed Jack. Had a lovely breakfast with my 2 beautiful friends Isi and Bella, followed by some apple cider at the beach afterwards. As my very good friend Seno had also birthday, the whole squad met at the Od Man's Bar at 5 pm for the happy hour and some beers and wine. Forgot to mention that, of course, it rained like crazy that evening.
A bit more tipsy that maybe I wanted, my birthday ended at a live reggae performance, my favorite band played a lot of my beloved reggae songs and happy birthday for me, we were dancing and singing. The evening ended of course the way my last birthday parties always ended...but what happens in Canggu, stays in Canggu :-) and for this reason absolutely no pictures from the reggae place :-)
Big big thanks to everybody who called and texted me that day, I got so many lovely messages from all over the world. And even if I had such a great day here with my Bali family, I kept all my friends and family from home in my mind and heart <3

Isi and Bella and avocado :-)

Mango Apple Cider....cos champagne is soooo mahal (expensive)

Before happy hour...dress yourself proper for the scooter ride in the rain...Juda and Bella

Happy hour is ongoing.....Bella, Isi and Budy

My twin Seno and me....happy birthday my friend

Isi and Budy

Isi, Bella, Alena, Malika, Vindi, Seno, Maan and Juda

With Antoq...or Bagong :-)

Dreadlocks

And here they are...My beloved dreadlocks, I was dreaming about so many years :-) Most of my friends texted me yesterday and they exactly knew, what was the next step on my "one day" list.
I was dreaming having dreadlocks for many many years, but my office job, of course, didn't allowed me having some and I had also a short hair cut for the past 15 years. But as soon as I knew I will go, I started growing my hair. And today finally my maybe biggest dream turned into reality.

One day....

Some time ago I started writing a list with things I would like to do one day... Some of them were more "would love to" some of them were "facing my fears". Meanwhile I did a lot of things I never thought I would to...And today is the day when I am going to do something I wished nearly my whole life....Guess what point is going to be true today?

Life is a game

The past 2 years were not really good for me. I had to do so many decisions, I had to fight for some of my rights, I lost 2 friends and my beloved cousin too early, I had to deal with my inside, if I am doing everything right, leaving my previous life, my cat, my friends and family behind me and start something new. But what is really the right decision? You can only reflect afterwards and say yes or no.
So since january this year everything changed, my job and my private life. Absolutely everything. Never even having an idea how many possibilities and how much easiness my life is going to bring me. Today I feel easy and life doesn't feel heavy and serious anymore. It is simply a game.
Leaving my "old" life behind me taught me so many things. There will always be people who are going to critice you or tell you what is the best for you. Yes, how I like this!!!! Only you can do and decide what is the best for you. To be honest I just don't care about this. Not anymore. I did earlier, tried to be friend with everybody and wanted all to like me.
The last two years felt so heavy to me. I spent so many hours at the office (some of them just for nothing, but to be the entertainer for a boss, who was thrilling us with all his idiotic ideas), tried to be on time to my yoga teaching, tried to meet my friends, to be there for my parents. How many times  I just felt down in my bed and slept. I was tired, I absolutely had no time for nothing anymore what I call my passion. I completely stopped painting. I stopped be creative. I even speed up my own yoga practice just to save some time. Was it all worth, all the money I earned (and I earned pretty good)? No it wasn't. Because I wasn't happy. Since I changed everything, and started following my passion, life seems to reward me with so many good things. Everything just happens when it's time.
Earlier I tried to be perfect, my apartment has to be perfect, my clothes, everything in my office. Nowadays I don't care anymore if I have 2-3 kilos more, I even don't really wear shoes anymore and my hair is messy. But yes, this seems to be me, and I finally feel happy with myself and I am perfect how I am and not how media and people want to see me. I got really lazy, a feeling I never knew before and shall I tell you something? It feels pretty good (ok, ignore please this one point from my previous post :-)) I only do things when I am in the mood for them and not because I have to. My favorite word since I live in Bali is laterrrrrr (of course with a rolling r ;-)
My magic rule today is letting go. Letting go on the past, situations and people in my life. If people or friends are meant to be in your life, and it doesn't matter how many years you were friends, they will stay there, it doesn't matter how far you are or how often you stay in touch. If you don't learn to let go, a heaviness will always follow you.
Life is pretty simple! It's your own decision how complicated you create it. Life gives you everyday new chances, new signs, it's just up to YOU, if you follow them or not.
This post is not meant to thrill you to go the radical way as I did. I just want to encourage you, to follow your passion, not to take life to serious anymore, at the end we all have to go one day, so try to create this amount of time as easy and happy as you can. Don't take everything to serious, take a deep breath and relax. And you will see, how easy everything just starts being.

Be happy, be silly, be wild at heart!

10 do's and don'ts in Indonesia

My very good friend Isi inspired me to today's post. I met Isi only 2 months before. Do you know the feeling just meeting a person and it fits from the first second on? She is definitely one of those people to me.. She lives in the same building like me with her boyfriend, comes from Germany as well and lives partly here, in Germany and Switzerland. She put a list of do's and don'ts in Indonesia on her webside and I would like to share it with you.

10 Do's

1. Go surfing! Especially if you come to Canggu. And do it with our friends Jungleboys

2. Be always nice! How many times we had the situations with foreigners treating local people disrespectful

3. Rent a scooter! It's cheap (approx. 3 Euro/Day), it's easy, you are flexible and you save a lot of money for taxi

4. Spend time with local people and get friends with them! This is the way you get really into the culture. Just visiting a temple is not enough

5. Eat at warung (small local eateries)! Mie and Nasi Goreng, Nasi Campur, Bakso and Lalapan, it's delicious and it's very cheap (approx. 1 Euro per dish)

6. Attend a beach clean-up! All of us like to go to the beach, and we enjoy it more if it's rubish- and plasticfree

7. Learn bahasa Indonesia! Even if only some words or sentences.You will realize that your stay here it's going to be much easier and the local people appreciate it very much. Btw, the language is super easy to learn.

8. Watch as many sunsets as possible. On the beach, with friends and a coconut (or a bintang)

9. A coconut a day keeps the doctor away! Seriously. Coconut cures everything (see my last post :-))

10. Support as many local places as possible, instead to just spend time at fancy bule (foreigner) places, spend your money rather for local food at the warung instead of making the rich richer, and btw the authentic food at warung tastes miles better.

10 Don'ts

1. Walking, driving and going to warung in bikini or only in boardshorts/no shirts. This is super disrespectful to the local people and hand on heart, you wouldn't do this in you home country, would you?

2. Driving the scooter without helmet, racing around like crazy, only because you CAN do it here, but you don't have to. Too many accidents happened here already, especially foreigners who don't know their limits.

3. Leaving all your rubbish at the beach. Due to raising tourism and sometimes a lack of education cause already too much rubbish here.

4. Buying a Bintang Singlet! Please don't. It's ugly

5. Complaining about everything! Especially the Europeans. You are not in Europe and no they don't have european standards (even if the locals really give the best to do so). But this is what we love here so much. It's the simple but real life.

6. Being scared about everything! Go for it and finally leave your comfort zone

7. Bargain too much. Of course you should do, but think about what is a fair price for you and then pay it. The local people have to survive and feed their family and it's still so cheap for you.

8. Entering the houses or shops with shoes/flipflops! You don't have to do it everywhere, but if you recognize shoes in front, do the same, please.

9. Getting lazy! Nothing wrong with that, you should come down, but don't get used to it. It happens too easy here :-)

10. Don't worry :-)! Be just happy

small...but painful

Countless times already I managed to break my toes...It happened at home, falling the stairs down, running against a table, running against the bed but mostly I broke them on my travels. Usually hitting some rocks on the beach and the last time, which is the funniest one, was at the airport. I had to put my shoes off at the security check in Munich and at the same time I tried to put my tablet out of my bag, of course it felt down directly on my toe. Pain, pain, pain.
So I was lately wondering that I managed being now 9 months away and having nearly nothing, except some flu and once a food poisoning, I even managed not to get dengue fever (crossing fingers till now) even if mosquitos really love and bite me all the time. A week ago I managed to break a toe for the first time. Yes, here it is :-) So teaching with a broken toe is not that easy, rolling over my toes from the upward to downward facing dog is trully painful. So I taped three of my toes and that helped. Days later I went to a beach party, left my flipflops in my scooter. Remember I was again at the same bar where my scooter got stolen in march, with my flipflops looked inside. Ok this time only my helmet got stolen, luckily scooter AND shoes were there. But I managed to step into a sharp rock or glass, I don't exactly now. A hero that I usually am I tried to cure it by myself.
Note when you are living here: You cure EVERYTHING with coconutwater (everything), Poccari (super sweet isotonic drink, and Papaya leaf juice, if you have flu or dengue), Jamu (natural "antibiotics") or condenced milk "Baearenmarke" if you have some stomach issues :-) aaaah I really love all the local medicine, which really help. But as the cut got infected I went to a doctor. It least I am still a german and of course I have a health insurance, which I nearly never used. Highly recommended: Canggu medical. Super cute and super nice staff. Taking care and asking several times, if it's too painful as the had to cut again and clean my foot sole.
Now I am sitting at my place, both feet injured but hey, yoga still works so everything is going to be alright in some days.
And of course I drink a coconut and will put some tumeric on the injury tomorrow :-) just in case

Grateful...

A friend asked me some days before what am I grateful for in the moment... Well there are many things

I am grateful to do what I love, for living on a tropical island, the first thing I see in the morning are my beloved palmtrees, having a family who is always there for me, being healthy....

Furthermore I am happy to get "local" every single day. Meanwhile I just like to talk in indonesian, refusing to answer in english anymore and I learnt how to eat with hands (no cutlery anymore needed) and how NOT to use toilet paper anymore :-) just getting washed the local style :-)

My favourite dish meanwhile is Lalapan. It's rice with some cucumber and tomato slices, chicken, tempe (pressed soy beans) and super spicy sambal... But it taste best if you share it with your family ❤️

Maan, Antoq, Budy, Dedi, Agell, Isi, me and loads of Lalapan

The flipflop routine

"Of course we have a routine as well. But a routine in flipflops is definitely better". True words from my boss, who left Portugal to work and live in Bali. We were siting the another day having barbecue at the camp where I actually teach and having a chat with our guests. Somebody asked us how does a typical day look like here. Another friend of mine texted me yesterday. I asked him how he is doing and he answered, that he is okay and of course his life is boring, not like mine having every day a sensation. Well no. I have to disapoint you. Even if I don't live in Germany anymore I have a normal life here. Getting up early, going to work every day (even saturday and sunday), breakfast afterwards, meeting my friends here for a coffee and chat, having a nap, reading, beachtime, meeting my Bali family again for dinner (we usually always stay at the same warung), listening to music and then sometimes going out or just going to bed. But even if thats nearly every day the same, a routine in flipflops is definitely better :-)
Rainy season arrived very quickly here and it's raining nearly every day and sometimes at night as well. And it rains a lot. A part of our famous shortcut just broke down and felt into the rice field. But it's still warm so at the end you just need a rain cape, that's it.

Teaching at the beautiful shala in Canggu

I have actually the opportunity to sit 3 dogs of a friend again, so I moved into her beautiful villa, pretending that I am on holidays :-) I walk the dogs 2x a day, swimming in the nice pool and reading a lot. And me and my two lovely friends from Germany Isi and Vanessa, who also live here, are working on our new homepages together.

Isi, Alena and me...not working but enjoying the happy hour at Old Man's ;-)

Bandit, Bugsy, Raffy and me chilling on a saturday morning

Aah something very exciting happened to me last week. I am meanwhile used to my new roommates like geckos, mosqitos, ants, spiders, lizards and frogs. And I prayed not to see a snake, even if I know that we have many of them here. So I was on my way with the dogs when I saw a quick move in the trash corner and then.....Heard the hissing, turned around and this huuuuuuge snake just passed us, moving down to the river. My blood just freezed in this second and we directly went back again. Aaaaaah I just don't like snakes and I guess this is something I will never get used to that.

Thought the lizard was supposed to be my new student :-) but then he just left....

And ya I had my first surfing lesson. Ha never thought I will be able to even try that one but it just happened. It went not to bad for me, and ya guys I assure you that Yoga is a very good training for that. I managed to catch 3 waves and stand up 3 times...So I felt already kinda new Kelly Slater. But just as long as I didn't smashed into the so called "washing machine". OMG!!!! I thought this is the end my friend. And as I finally came up I managed to get a big inhale as I already saw the next wave coming and breaking over me. At least I got enough air in my lungs the second time but than I just grab the longboard and run out of the water. Pussy! I think my knees shaked for two more hours but I definitely want to give a new try and all my surfer friends tell me you got used to the "washing machine". Hm ok I will believe them.

So what is home feeling like? When you are nearly daily at your favorite places in Canggu, where the staff knows your name, serving you the sugar free cappuccino or Bali coffee without asking, when they know that you eat your sandwich without a sauce, and they know that you just like the eggs very well done...But the best one, they treat you like a friend, like somebody who was always there.

Gypsy Bali Crew

Satu Satu Cafe

Gourmet Canggu (guess this is my 2nd living room here)

And finally my family at the OMG warung. There is no place where I spend more time

The coconut ladies where I go sometimes after teaching

My friend Seno and Dadong, the cute puppy chilling at the OMG warung

Yoga and party? Say whaaaaat?

Unexpected I had another day off last sunday. That meant for me finally going out and having a proper party with my friends on a saturday night. It's been really long ago I went really out here. I may be judged now on this point (but to say I am ok with that ;-). But yes, I am a yoga teacher and yes I like party and even enjoying some drinks. I don't do it very often anymore. Even if I am teaching yoga I still have a social and private life and no I am not a 100% dedicated yogi. I am not even vegetarian. And I know that doesn't make a bad teacher out now. Balance is the key ;-)
So I arrived on saturday at my friends place and after a nice guitar session with my favourite indonesian songs we left and went dancing. You must know that in Canggu most bars and clubs close at midnight, latest 1 am. But I was such in a good mood and still didn't have enough, and those who know me well, know nothing can stop me. So my poor friend Budy has to go with me to Sandbar. I don't really like Sandbar, even the location is directly on the beach, as always when I went there something stupid happened. Remember, my scooter got stolen there at my very Bali beginning. We met Agell and some another friends and really had a nice party evening.
Arrived home safe and sound....Ok, I thought I lost my shoes there..once again, but found them locked in the scooter. At least just one was broken ;-)

@Pretty Poison with Isi (my favourite neighbour), Vanessa, Juda and Ringo

@Sandbar with Budy

@Sandbar with Agell and Budy

Home is where your heart is...

And mine is happy in Bali. 6 months already. Bali, you are so much more than just my home

Day off Singapore

Since weeks I don't have a day off (which is pretty good as I do what I love) but there was one day when my visa finished and I had to leave the country. Arriving in the early morning (5:00) at the Ngurah Rai International Airport I stopped in the front and just had a look. Me and this airport are in a complicated relationship (how Facebook would called it). Love and hate. Hate, because earlier when I had to go back to Germany my heart always broke, I was crying like a kid who doesn't get a toy. It was always soooo sad for me to leave the place I love with all my heart. And love because arriving here always brings happiness to me. Even if I know I will arrive some hours back again here, the small sad feeling will always be with me when I have to go to the departure. 2,5 hours later I arrived again in Singapore (my 3. visa run meanwhile). 4 years earlier I stayed 3 days in Singapore, exploring, walking around, ticking the tags on my to do list here. Today I just went to my agent, gave him my passport, a pic of me (with blond short hair, hahaha I wish I could have taken a photo of his face when he had a look at it), all the papers, the money and then I had some hours off.
As this was a kind of holidays for me I decided to be a tourist for the day. So first of all, instead of using metro I took a taxi ride to the city, big comfy limousine just for me :-) and yeah I was surprised how cheap a taxi ride in Singapore is, comparing to Germany. After I met my agent I went to Marina Bay Sands and took, of course, some pictures of me in front of the hotel. Enjoyed an expensive cafe latte at Starbucks (the place I usually would never go in Canggu, as we have sooo many better places to enjoy good coffee), went to Lau Pa Sat https://www.tripadvisor.de/Attraction_Review-g294265-d386879-Reviews-Lau_Pa_Sat_Festival_Pavilion-Singapore.html to eat. Have you ever been there, guys? Highly recommended. Placed somewhere in the middle of the business district, this hall is full of food stalls, chinese, italian, korean, japanese, indonesian, turkish and indian food, absolutely no chance to just decide for one dish. The food is compared to Singapore prices really ok. Being outside of Bali, now for at least six months I really needed to shop some essentials you don't get in Bali. The shopping tour ended with so many things more than I ever thought.
Being back before midnight in Denpasar, with heavy rain and of course my fancy raincoat NOT with me on my scooter, I reached my home around 1 am in the night. Happy being back and having the visa for the next six months in my hands, hell yeah, life is not that bad :-)