I’ve never heard about writer Elizabeth Gilbert’s bestseller Eat, Pray, Love until Lizzy, the love of my life, quoted the book, when she intimated her desire to see the world and spend time travelling solo. While I may not have read the book nor seen the movie, I was surprised at how much following Eat,Pray, Love has from people all over the world. I thought it was something that only women would tend to gravitate to.

Eat, Pray, Love is a story about self-transformation and resurrection after a deep slumber of being in a traumatic life experience. The story’s protagonist (Julia Roberts in the movie) went through a life-changing tour through Italy, India and Bali that involved searching for pleasure (through food), devotion (through spirituality) and love. But the book isn’t just about travel, spirituality or divorce. It is something that we can all relate to – the yearning to be in love again after suffering a broken-heart.

And that’s what Lizzy means to me. She has opened my eyes to loving someone again to the fullest. It took a while for us to get into where we are now. It took some twists and turns, and certainly a bit of luck for us to come together again. And after I have spent time with her, I ain’t giving up on her as long as she needs me.

When Lizzy and I first planned to go to Bali, I had no idea yet about what Eat, Pray, Love was all about. I was intrigued about it when she mentioned it in one of her social media posts. As I see it, Lizzy’s personal life story (and also mine, to some extent) may just jive with the Eat, Pray, Love experience. Initially, Bali was such a good idea to go on a trip together due to geographic convenience. However, it’s significance to the Eat, Pray, Love story made me look forward to spending time with her there.

In retrospect, our time there was simply amazing. We chose three of some of the better accommodations we could get through AirBnB by posing as a couple going on honeymoon – and we played the part to a T. I brought her a set of rings to make our role-playing seem more realistic and we had so much fun going through our trip posing as honeymooners.

EAT

Bali, with its numerous warungs, is a perfect setting for a gastronomic feast. The local fare, such as nasi goring, mei goreng, babi guling, satay and rending, to name a few, are to-die for, whether you partake them overlooking the beautiful beaches of Kuta, Jimbaran and Seminyak, or the verdant green fields of Ubud.

However, my best “Eat” memory in Bali is actually something that we planned to cook but never got the chance to do. Lizzy and I earlier had planned to cook a pasta dish called Come Fuck Me Penne, in line with our script as couple on a honeymoon trip, and got ourselves to buying the ingredients at Carrefour-Kuta. Yet, we never got to cook that sultry feast because we ended up spending more time doing the actual lovemaking, which isn’t a bad trade-off. We were posing as honeymooners, after all, so we had to play the part perfectly. And we did, vigorously, every day.

PRAY

Lizzy and I aren’t exactly the most religious of people so I wouldn’t know how this part of the journey would unfold. However, Bali is well-suited for this purpose with its numerous Hindu temples and bucolic setting that is conducive to Zen. We got to play this part by going to three wonderful puras or temples, namely, Goa Gajah with its Elephant Cave, Pura Gunung Kawi and its cliff-carved gigantic statues, and Pura Uluwatu and its magnificent seaside vista.

Goa Gajah was particularly memorable because we found a secluded temple dedicated to Buddha (which is deep inside a Hindu sanctuary) where we were blessed by a local shaman who sprinkled rice on our forehead and then showed us a path through the jungle amidst a treacherous ravine and gorge – after receiving a hefty tip from us – where we ended up having to find our way out after getting lost. This is where the Pray part happened to me. I go to pray to Buddha- specifically to bless the rest of my life with Lizzy by my side.

In addition, I think meditation, quietude and serenity through the healing touch of a Balinese masseuse amidst the rich sensual mixture of incense, lavender and local ointments qualify in the “Pray” department too. The time we spent in Bali’s heavenly spas were such an awesome experience that I might have ended up being a spa whore, as Lizzy called it.

LOVE

Eclectic Ubud is where Julia Robert’s character’s search for self-discovery reached her denouement. In the movie, it is where she met the man of her dreams in a fictional beach bar. Ubud is very memorable for us because this is where Lizzy and I reached new heights in our lovemaking. This is where we had our very first outdoor sex in an idyllic setting bathed in moonlight at the poolside while we had the whole place to ourselves.

In fact, the whole Bali trip was actually an exercise in vigorous lovemaking. I came prepared with Cialis to heighten the lovemaking, but the feeling in Bali was so different, and the seven-day sex challenge was awesome. We certainly some of our more amazing lovemaking so far. Lizzy, after all, is the only Cialis I need. She makes me feel so virile and alive.

It wasn’t just the lovemaking that was great. Bali is where I felt so much love for this woman who makes me feel happy and complete. Make no mistake. I have always loved Lizzy, but it is in Bali where I felt most that she is the one who I want to spend my life with. I felt the denouement of my feelings come to a head. I asked her if she wanted to spend the rest of my life with me in one of our more vigorous lovemaking in the aptly-named Puri Uluwatu Nirvana Honeymoon Villa. And I meant every word I said.

To cap it all off, I brought Lizzy to Padang Padang Beach, which was the location used by the movie producers for the fictional beach scene where the story’s protagonist found love. My love for Lizzy has come full-circle with the Eat, Pray, Love book. I have reached my Nirvana literally and figuratively.

[Note: This post was first published on March 20, 2017 at https://abelsantaanave.blogspot.com]