Bali Meeting Travellers In Bali
Meeting Allen from Canada in Bali
About 10 days ago I met a super guy from Canada named Allen. He is out here for a few weeks, and told me surf the Great Lakes back home!
Date: February 4th, 2007 |
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Afternoon in Ubud Bali
Today went like clockwork. Ika, Jevon and I picked up Barbara from Oregon (not related to Ollie from Oregon) together with her friend Nancy. Both are around 50 or so, Barbara has been to Bali twice before, Nancy is a newby. I had to laugh, because Nancy is right out the ‘American tourist’ mold. Exiting the airport she exclaimed “Its so beautiful…what kind of trees are those?” This carried on all the way to Ubud, with carvings, people, petrol stations (petrol stations!!!), and finally the hotel telephone, “Oh my that’s a lovely phone you have, what kind is it?” getting compliments. Barbara and I had a chuckle, and Nancy is the nicest woman.
Date: January 31st, 2007 |
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Meeting Chimene in Seminyak Bali
Chimene Hickey is an old friend from the Bay Area (San Francisco), who I first met in 1987. Chimene is a regular visitor to Indonesia, having spent a total of 5 years living in Bukit Luwang, Sumatra, before the village was destroyed by a flood, a few years ago. Today I met up with Chimene at Warung Mimpi, in Seminyak. For people not familiar with the Bukit Luwang story, it was the main jungle village, favoured by jungle trekkers, located in central northern Sumatra. Back in 2003, villagers reported that a massive landslide in the highlands, had created a dam and a new lake had formed. On November 1st, 2003 the dam burst, sending tons of water and debris down the valley to Bukit Luwang.
Date: January 24th, 2007 |
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Meeting Steve in Seminyak Bali
Jevon and I were stepping out of the door this morning, when Steve from Perth arrived. Steve is a miner in the Western Australian desert and is an avid surfer. Our pembantu is in Java for 2 weeks, and Ika is doing the cleaning. So far she likes it and as her mother is around, they can spend all day cooking, chatting, eating and cleaning to their hearts content. Ika made us a coffee and we chatted about the surf in Bali. Steve was out here in July and had a great time. The weather over the last 2 weeks has been gusty, wet and with the debris in the water and the changing winds, the surfing wasn’t so good. Steve said that out at Serangan, its felt like everyone who could surf was out there.
Date: January 5th, 2007 |
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Airport run in Kuta Bali
My friends had an agreement to check out of their room at the Suka Beach Inn, at 6pm. Down the street, they had another agreement with a van driver, to take them, the luggage and surfboards to the airport in Tuban at 8pm. At 6pm we got the gear moved and I suggested heading to Kori Restaurant on Poppies II, to use their pool room. As mentioned before, Kori has a wonderful space, with a full size table. For 30,000rp rented the table for an hour and got a large Bintang with it. Different cultures carry different energy. Of course people are different, but being away from a culture for a while, will make the distinctions more obvious. In my mind, we were having a relaxing game of pool, listening to cool jazz in an AC room.
Date: January 3rd, 2007 |
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Meeting Camille in Seminyak Bali
Sitting here at Joulla’s German restaurant in Seminyak, I got a call from an old face. Camille from Wilmington North Carolina (’hell yeah boy, we gonna tear it up’) was in town with her silver jewelry business, and took time out to meet me. Camille, you may remember, is a friend of Josh, the Hobbit from DC (just kidding buddy, we love you), who made it out here a few times. Camille is newly married and is continuing her silver locket gig.
Date: February 2nd, 2007 |
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Toby & Maya’s trip to Bali
Toby Catlin recently visited Bali, with his 3 1/2 year old daughter Maya (who’s mother is actually a Mayan indian!). Taking a young kid to a hot, tropical country, with question marks over accommodation, transportation and food safety, is a risk. Toby was willing to go for it, and shares his Bali experience.
Date: January 12th, 2007 |
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Meeting Howard in Seminyak Bali
Wedneday afternoon I met Howard from England, in Warung Mimpi in Seminyak. Walking down Jl. Seminyak around 4pm with my camera, I got a call, inviting me to join him for a drink. A while later we met and got acquainted. Both coming from London, we chatted about how locals there live in a famous city, but often don’t know where the landmarks are. Maybe its the same the world over, Balinese people often don’t visit other parts of Bali, if they don’t have a job or family pulling them. Howard is married to an Indonesian in England, and has a furniture business based in Semarang Central Java. His computer controlled cutting machines, can be monitored online from anywhere in the world, and the cuts are so accurate, he doesn’t need to use glue. We laughed about some of the things you have to go through living in Indonesia and Howard offered a bit of wisdom. “Never ask a local a question that can be answered ‘yes’ or ‘no’, instead, ask them how they are going to do something.” he said. That’s great advice and I will have to remember that.
Date: January 4th, 2007 |
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Friend’s last day in Bali
Toby, Maya, Ollie from Oregon and Asia, spent their last day in Bali shopping and packing. Back at the Suka Beach Inn, on Jl. Benesari all rooms were full. This location is ground zero for surfers, who arrive from the arport, check into a guest house, party for a few days, then organize a surf tour to G-Land, Lakey Peak an other places. Supporting businesses are all around including board sales / hire / ding repair, cars for rent, live-aboard operators and warungs. Toby bought a couple djembe drums, which you can find all over the place. He packed these into one of those large holdalls, together with his new bikini.
Date: January 3rd, 2007 |
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