Saturday afternoon in Seminyak Bali

Steaming hot after here on the Island of the Gods. Visiting my workout center on Blue Ocean beach, I observed some sweaty looking tourists, including older couples struggling with the high curbs and trying to ignore the sun searing the tops of their heads. One guy I saw just wasn’t fit to be out, wearing a pair of shorts, 40 pounds overweight and sweating like a madman. My lunch warung of choice has lately flipped between Ocha’s on the corner of Jl. Seminyak and Jl.Plawa, and Warung Murah, on Jl. Double Six. There places serve consistently good Indonesian food. Warung Murah serves great chicken breasts and boiled pototoes, Ocha’s does roast potatoes and roast chicken, Balinese style vegetables and tuna. See the common denominator? If you want ‘bules’ to come, serve potatoes.

My recent outings in Kuta and Seminyak revealed a number of older Dutch couples and Chinese families here in Bali. The other night after logging off, I walked across the street to a place with a pool table. In came a party of about 12 Chinese people, so I invited them to join me. Super good vibes and fun, they said they were from Shanghai. Chinese tourism is set to be the fastest growing sector in the world. Better start a version of Baliblog in Mandarin. Leaving the pool table, I thanked my friends and wished them Gong Xi Fat Choi, to which they showed surprise that I would be aware of it.

Part of the tourism scene in Bali is dedicated to the large Asian tour groups. They stay at places like Hard Rock Hotel, shop till they drop and take these huge white buses to Ubud, Kintamani and other places of interest. The buses are working a well worn route, lunch being served at one of the tourist restaurants with a view of Mt. Batur, dinner at a large Chinese restaurant in Tuban. Its not my scene, but if you want to travel with 12 friends, you narrow your options somewhat.