Where Next? Travel with Kristen and Carol
Where Next? Travel with Kristen and Carol
Bali - Travel and Surf with Hong
In today's episode we are visiting with Hong, who currently resides in South Korea. She tells her story about how she learned to surf later in life. She shares tips on surfing that she has picked up from her weekend Bali surf excursions.
Correction - in the story of Garut surfing at Uluwatu and catching a wave to dreamland. It was actually to Padang Padang which is about 3-4 beaches further along the coast.
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Carol Springer: https://www.instagram.com/carol.work.life
Kristen: https://www.instagram.com/team_wake/
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Hi, welcome to our podcast when Next Travel with Kristen and Carol. I am Kristen and I am Carol, and we're two long-term friends with a passion for travel and adventure.
Speaker 2:Each episode, we interview people around the globe to help us decide where to go next. In today's episode, we are visiting with Hong, who currently resides in South Korea. She tells her story about how she learned to surf later in life and shares tips on surfing that she has picked up from her weekend Bali surf excursions. We really appreciate you joining us today and we would love if you could support us by simply following, rating or reviewing our podcast in your favorite podcast app. Enjoy.
Speaker 1:We have to talk about the surf and Bali and the story that you, in terms of bringing your daughter out, who actually it sounded like was kind of she started screaming she didn't want to go surf in Bali with her mom, and a little bit about that too. And how, when did you start doing that? What, what got you into that?
Speaker 3:So, I got into that so late, so late in my life, you know, and I mentioned I broke my leg and it took forever. So I got in it way too late to ever be even remotely good.
Speaker 1:So let's just start. What was the idea? Like I want to surf in Bali, like how did that come?
Speaker 3:Hawaii every year with their daughter for the summer. His wife goes away and he is family-less, right so? And he's one of those people who just can't be alone, and so I'm always the surrogate wife for him. I've known him for years. I've known him since the first time I lived in Singapore, and so so by now I'm divorced. Wallace goes back to Scotland to her grandparents, and so you know, and it's important for her to keep connections with her family.
Speaker 1:And so that's your daughter, is Wallace right?
Speaker 3:No, sorry. Well, yeah, my daughter Wallace, so she's away. He's like come over for dinner. What are you doing for dinner? What are you doing now? How about that now?
Speaker 3:And Bali from Singapore is a two hour flight. It's an easy, easy flight and it's incredibly inexpensive, and so you can live the lap of luxury for a nominal amount. Singapore is one of the most expensive countries in the world and while it's an island state, it's arguably the largest port in the world, and so the water is beautiful but very dirty. It's more a sea so it's so it's very flat, so there is no very little surfing. But but that aside. So so he said why don't you come? And and I love the water, hong Kong waters, when you find the right beaches, they're beautiful, they're pristine, and I I used to do open water swimming competitively, and so you know I love going to the beach. He says let's go to Bali. I've got a friend who's there. She's a surfer, maybe we can take some lessons. I'm like great, you know, and so that was kind of the beginning of the end, and so she and I became very good friends.
Speaker 3:She learned how to surf when she was living in the Philippines. Her boyfriend at the time was a surfer, so she would follow him around and go to competitions. She met a bunch of surfer kids and she would, I don't know, randomly, she met them. They were looking for a surf spot after the competition. She said, hey, you know, happy to take you. And these were, you know, so she's in her like maybe 30s and they're teenagers, right, they're young kids. And so she kind of just, you know, took them under her wing, took them around and she's been friends with them since.
Speaker 3:So, fast forward, she's moved to Hong Kong. She goes to Bali regularly and the trip from Hong Kong to Bali is very is longer. It's about a five hour flight, if not no, six hour flight. So she's dedicated surfer so so she almost every weekend she takes a six hour flight to to Bali. And so she was there that weekend and she introduced us to these guys. And I remember the first day I got there she came over and she was like hey, do you want to take your lessons? And we were lounging at the W hotel by the, you know, by the beach, and we're like maybe tomorrow. And so so we actually didn't do it. The next day we went surfing and I was hooked, I just loved it and I loved the how taxing it was on your body like just how tired you were at the end of it and just how amazing it felt when you got it right. When you first start off, you're just learning on the breakers, right.
Speaker 2:So so, roughly how old were you? 30s.
Speaker 3:Or 40s, or oh my gosh, I was in my 40s. I was in my 40s, I was like wow, and where did?
Speaker 1:you go what? What beach or where did you go at the time it was Kuta.
Speaker 3:Kuta is like. It is like the Vegas of Indonesia. Everyone's like oh Kuta, gross. But it is easy beginner waves and there will always be waves there. It's very rare that I've been to Kuta where it is not surfable. It used to be beautiful I mean, all of Bali used to be so beautiful until tourism really came in and just decimated the island. But the nice thing about Bali is that when it's not working in one place, it is working somewhere else. You will always be able to find a surf spot, and so if it's not the East Coast, it's the West Coast, if it's not the West Coast, it's the North Northeast, if it's not Northeast, it's the South, and there will always be some place, regardless of what level. And I'm guessing it's very similar to Hawaii in that sense.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So what is it? I mean we have all of Indonesia. Why is Bali so popular? I feel like we hear about Bali way more. Is there not surfing in other places? Or the other places aren't as developed? Jakarta, you said, is going underwater. Maybe that's a problem.
Speaker 3:Well, jakarta is landlocked, so you can't you definitely can't surf there, but so so Bali. I think with the international airport there, you can have either direct flights, it's much easier. There are plenty of really beautiful places to to surf plenty, but a lot of them are for more experienced surfers and if you get caught out you will need to be airlifted out like you.
Speaker 3:There's no you know rip currents yeah, exactly, but you know if, if something happens, there is no local hospital for you that will be able to handle you Like it's yeah, so. So those are things you have to think about when you go to places like even Bali. You know, when you decide that you're going to do a, you know an adventurous, you know surf trip, like, if something goes wrong, what, what, you know, what do you do, and, and I think you know, when you're younger, those are things that you don't think about. But when you're 40s, in your 40s, yeah, you think about that, but so anyway. So so I really enjoyed it, the the social aspect of it. I enjoyed being on the beach and just and you know, when you're not a good surfer, a lot of what you do is wait time, right, trying to catch something and not catching it and then having to paddle back, and it was a great workout. You know you felt amazing at the end of it. The camaraderie on the water, out in the water, was amazing, and it's not for everybody, right, and so you feel special. You know it's. It's something that you know it's. It's a self-selecting group of people and and I became really good friends with her we ended up renting a place together so we had a place that we could go anytime we wanted. And so you know, if she was there, she was there, if she's not, she's not. But we ended up having a place for a few years together and so, anyway, so I get hooked.
Speaker 3:My daughter comes back from Scotland and I say, listen, end of summer let's do a trip to Bali. She is the exact opposite of me, she while she is mine, because she came out of my body. The girl looks Scottish. She has super fine skin, like. She's very pale. She's incredibly pale. Every time the weather goes above 70, she turns this beet red, incredibly pale. Every time the weather goes above 70, she turns this beet red. She has curly hair, she's tall, she's, you know, and so so for her going to hot weather and Singapore is 34 degrees Celsius, it's about 12 miles from the equator, and so it's a constant heat, and so for her she was like, oh, more heat, and she really did not want to go. And you know she was complaining the entire time. And finally I just said, listen, no one is going to feel sorry for you that your mom leave you hang out at the beach in Bali. I did say to her I said Listen, if you don't want to try it, if you don't like it, hang out on the beach, read a book, stay by the pool, do whatever, Right, but no, no harm, no foul. So she's like fine.
Speaker 3:So she comes and I introduced her to the gang and the you know, and and, as I mentioned there's, there's like a 20 odd year difference between us, right, the, the, the gang of surfer boys. So the woman who I rent the place with, she and I are about the same age, but the surfers who she knows, they're now professional surfers. They work for Billabong, rip Curl, you know, you name it. They're the local celebrities, they're in all the shops, they, you know, people know them when we go surfing with them.
Speaker 3:You know, the greatest thing about learning to surf and surfing with professionals is that they will clear the beach for you, like they will clear the, like anybody who's thinking about stealing your wave. They're like get off that wave. You know, and it's enjoyable because you don't have to worry about surfers taking your wave or out surfing you or intimidating you like they do and and you can take the perfect wave and and and miss it, and you know, and and kind of do that washing machine and everyone's like, oh, that wave was wasted on her. But they can't say anything Cause you're with. You're with professionals, wow.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's great. How long is your board? How long is your?
Speaker 3:surfboard, so it's it's a five, five, nine, five. I've got one that's a five, nine, five, 11, but but mine is also wider. It's a fun board, right, so so it is wider, and so that makes it a lot easier than your typical short board.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, that sounds fun. I remember as a kid and I would surf. I grew up in Redonda beach and went to Hawaii and surfed and I had a really long board and then all of my friends, all the boys I knew, had short boards and so I was like I want a short board. Those are look more cool anyway.
Speaker 1:And then I went out on one and I was like, oh my gosh, I can't get out. I think it was like four something or whatever it was. It was really short. It's like, oh okay, I need a bigger board.
Speaker 3:It's counterintuitive because I'm not good and I'm older. I really should be on a long board. But the idea of facing a wall of water with a huge board and knowing that there's possibility you're not going to make it is daunting to me. That is just hugely daunting. So I'm just like shortboard you can.
Speaker 1:You can cut through it yeah, yeah, if you need to, yeah what's your surf moves. What do you do when you get a typical wave like what do you do?
Speaker 3:no, no, no, for me it is. I'm telling you, I am not a good surfer, I am a beginner surfer. I get up and I go and that is it, and, and so I have some carving. No, no, yeah, I just go and and this is the thing. So, so then the, so, so I'll finish the story about my daughter.
Speaker 3:So so, so we go, and she meets these guys, and they're young and the, and it's a gang of guys that, and they're all, they're all related, so it's like cousins they're all. And because the, the original surfers, balinese surfers. One of them was their uncle, and so he was the one who taught these boys and so so there's generations of really excellent surfers coming from a handful of old Balinese men. They are such a beautiful people, but so anyway, so so she meets them. The youngest of this gang is, I think at the time he was 14, maybe a little bit younger, and then the, and then there was another one about her age, and so suddenly she was like, oh my God, like Mom is actually cool, and so, so, so they, so they're, you know, the, and there aren't many female surfers, so so they go from paying all attention to Sophia, my friend and me to then being like Wallace. She's this thing of youth and beauty and you know, so they're all about her and so so she really got into it. So she actually she's really good. So she's, she started, she's learned to carve, and there was one summer, instead of going up to Scotland, she really wanted to to go to Bali. So she spent a couple of months in Bali surfing every day. So you do an early surf, late surf, and so she got really really good.
Speaker 3:Because they're Indonesian, they don't speak English that well, so that things that really help you learn how to surf. I learned through random tourists, right, so these tourists would be watching me and they'd be like stay low when you do your pop, right. And at that moment it was like crack. I was like, oh my God, you know these little things. You're like, oh my God, now I can actually stay on the wave, you know. And so it's like so they're like you know. So they give you little tips. Like you know, when you pop, you know your head should be at about the same height as when you're pushing up Right. So, so, so that you know you're stabilizing. And those are things that cannot be easily translated for somebody who doesn't, whose English is not their first language, right, and they only learn to speak English through tourists, and so these little things, but I never, you know, got these little tips.
Speaker 3:So then, when we were talking about you know, it was my first time this last time I went to Singapore, it was my first time doing it and you don't need to fight the wave, you don't need to, like, make sure you caught it, you just get up and so you're just practicing being on the wave.
Speaker 3:And so it was at that point where and it was an English speaker and the guy was like, try and do this, move your hip this way, that way, you know, and I was like, if I did a few more lessons of this, I definitely would be able to try and carve. Wallace was starting to do fishtails. It's like, yeah, but in any case, I mean the reality is that I don't do it for these things. I do it for everything about it. I do it for the everything about it. Yeah, you know the exercise, the challenge of it, the. You know that, that intimidation, that fear that you're not going to make it, the you know, and then forcing yourself back in, like you know, really not giving up like the, the, the camaraderie, the, the water, the, everything right. Because when you're actually surfing and you're average, you know not even beginner but when you're average that wave time is so short compared to the paddling and catching the wave, missing the wave, going through, going under. You know that is the vast majority of time when you're surfing.
Speaker 2:And are there any sea otters out there in Bali that's what I'm remembering Santa Cruz, there's all these little sea otters everywhere, yeah.
Speaker 3:So they're not sea otters, they're kind of. I keep forgetting what they're called. They're dugongs. No, no, they have them in Florida Sea cows.
Speaker 1:Oh, oh, oh.
Speaker 3:The manatees.
Speaker 2:The manatees.
Speaker 1:Manatees. Yes, exactly, I'm like I know the baby manatees. Those aren't cute. Yeah, yeah, they're huge Right? Yes, exactly, I'm like I know those aren't cute.
Speaker 3:I mean they're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, they're huge, right. So so it is every once in a while you see them and you're like, oh my gosh, but so so. So Kuta is the is where the boys are from. So Kuta and Kuta are easy waves, they're beginner waves, and so that's where I surf mostly. Bingin is on the other side, or on the south side, and it is slightly harder. It's coral. It's so much more beautiful, so much more beautiful.
Speaker 1:What is that place called. What's that beach Bingen?
Speaker 3:How do you spell it? B-i-n-g-a-n. Bingo, but Bingen.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So that area is so beautiful and that's you know that that's near Uluwatu but less popular Looks like bigger waves. They're definitely bigger waves. Southside is definitely bigger waves. There was one day, literally one day, when Uluwatu was not working for anyone but beginners, and it was the one day that I could actually surf Ulu. And it is so beautiful because Ulu is it is. It's amazing that one of the surfer friends, so there was one day he caught a wave that went from Ulu and so from one from Uluwatu all the way to dreamland.
Speaker 3:These are perfect waves and when you look at them, I mean you've got to see some of these Uluwatu all the way to dreamland. These are perfect waves and when you look at them, I mean you've got to see some of these Uluwatu waves. When you look at them, it's like a machine made them these perfect, perfect waves, one after the other, and you can just see it because it's a cliff beach. So you have to go down and and I I love Uluwatuatu but I cannot surf Uluwatu. It is too big, it barrels, it's. You know, beginners have no right to be out there, but I would go and watch my friend, but there was that one day that I was able to, and so I'll finish that story. So when I went out, the water is crystal clear and you look down and you see all these little fish swimming underneath you and coral and there are the manatees. It is just so beautiful and Kuta is really beautiful.
Speaker 3:The thing that I love about Kuta and especially for late surf, like the evening sunset surf, is my favorite.
Speaker 3:You look out in the water and the sun is setting and you look out towards the beach and the moon is rising and there is. I mean, like honestly, like I well up thinking about it, like I, I, I just it's just so emotional for me. It's so beautiful and Uluwatu is beautiful, right, the water is pristine, it is gorgeous and these surfers are amazing. They're amazing surfers, but it's cliff. So you, you, you can see it from the top. Going down, you have to take your board down a series of stairs and just little crevices, and what's really crazy about Ulu is that there's this kind of cave entry and exit in order to get out to the breakers and then you have to walk through a huge coral bed, walk across a huge like rocky bed and then beautiful I'm seeing pictures of it and it's like these rocks and yeah, it's beautiful you know, and and the the old time surfers, you know, like all old, famous surfers, imagine that they came there when there were no stairs.
Speaker 3:They had to cut their own, like they were climbing down with ropes to get down there. I mean like crazy, crazy travelers coming through there. But so anyway. So you go through this like kind of set of stairs and suddenly you're at the bottom of this kind of this sinkhole. So you can see sky and there's rocks on all around you and there's this small little exit. It's like this kind of chapel exit and you can go out that way.
Speaker 3:Or there's this other hole and you go, kind of go through these series of like cave, like exits and it opens up to this small beach and it's idyllic. There's like this crazy shipwreck that's been sitting there, like the fishing boat shipwreck that's been sitting on this beach for forever, and so you can go out on that beach and and get out to the breakers. Or you go through this chapel-like exit but the tide is so strong that when you're coming back you kind of have to aim for the beach and you might get the cave entrance and and if you aim for the cave entrance you're doomed. You got to like go all the way out because that tide is so strong, you got to go all the way out and then all around and and so it, but it is so beautiful.
Speaker 3:I wish I were a better surfer to be able to surf there. It is so, so beautiful, Really amazing.
Speaker 1:This is amazing. Yeah, I see the shipwreck and it seems like what it looks like, um spray painted or color. It's like artwork on it as well, which is really really cool oh my gosh, this is amazing.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and you know and and and so this is the nice thing of going with locals. They would take you to beaches that people don't surf, and so you'd get to these beaches and you know there's. There's nobody like the. It's all for you and it's just. It's just incredible, but all along, all along, all around. So if it's not working on the kuta side, you go to the nusidua side. If it's not working there, you go down to the south and if nothing else, my god, it is just so gorgeous to drive the island is pretty easy, like 30 minutes or an hour per like direction everything is super slow, the infrastructure is not built for tourism, so just getting someplace.
Speaker 3:So. So when the, the volcano erupted, um, all the everyone, all the tourists, freaked out and they said, no way, I'm not going, not going, and because for me it's only a two hour flight, I was like you know which has happened if the plane turns around, it turns around, but you know it's like two hours, it's not. I'm not on my honeymoon, I'm not traveling 18 hours to get there, you know. So so I have been there when there've been no tourists whatsoever, and so to get from there to some of the areas, that would normally take us two hours, it would be like 15 minutes. So the traffic is really bad. The infrastructure is not there, it's.
Speaker 3:I love the country so much, but the inequality is enormous, the poverty is enormous and the people are so kind and gentle.
Speaker 3:The tourism has brought economy to them, but has also decimated their lives. You know, economy to them, but has also decimated their lives, you know, or their where they live, and and so, um, so the way I went, I went around, we, um, my friend Sophia, had a had a guy, a driver, and so he became our driver, and so if I flew in Friday night, so we'd leave our stuff at our place, so I would fly in right after work. Uh, fly in Friday night, hang out, surf in the morning. But there were times where I couldn't catch the Friday night flight. I would catch an early Saturday morning flight. He would have um, he would take all of my gear, I would change on the plane, I would put my sunblock on in the car, he would take my bags to the house and drop me off at the beach and I would be. I'd take a morning flight and I would be on the beach by eight. That's amazing.
Speaker 1:That sounds like the perfect uh perfect place and perfect Uh yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah Right, it was amazing. So COVID hit and everything shut, so I haven't been back since then.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh. Well, I'm definitely. I know I want to respect time and I know I'm. I'm going to be contacting you on WhatsApp because I think I need to fly over there and go surf with you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, no, definitely, definitely it's so funny because my boards are like at four, three. It's small but then you know you just pull up, it's not, you know it's just pull with a rope and then you're just surfing. So then and then it's really mobile so I can do a lot of different moves and jumps and there are errors and um. So it'd be interesting because I did surf when I was growing up a little bit on a beach and just like, yeah, you just went straight. But now, having so many years behind a boat and being able to have this non-stop wave going all the time, it gives you that opportunity to kind of yeah, horizons of moves and things like that.
Speaker 1:So it's been, it's been, yeah fun, and now I want to go try it out Bali with you for sure.
Speaker 3:Bless me, I'll be the, I'll be the boys who take you out, because I'm sure that I'll be. I'll be sitting in the, I'll be sitting on the back, on the, on the sides, and you'll you'll probably be closer to the peaks.
Speaker 1:Oh, I don't know about that, we'll see. It's been a long time on an actual surfboard, but uh, or you know, not the wake surfboards, but but anyway, just wanted to thank you so so much for your time. Um, this was so much fun and, oh my gosh, just listening to your story, your childhood, all the different countries you've been to, it's just really cool and I look forward to keeping in touch with you and I absolutely will be WhatsAppping you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah. No, it was great to talk to you and it was great meeting you, yeah.
Speaker 2:Very nice to meet you as well.
Speaker 3:All right, thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Have a great weekend. Thank you, bye. Have a great weekend.
Speaker 2:Thank you, bye, bye-bye. If you enjoy our podcast, be sure to subscribe to our show, rate us in your podcast app and follow us on Instagram at where next podcast. If you are interested in being a guest on our show or would like to nominate someone, please contact us on our website at wwwwhere next podcastcom. Thanks for listening.
