Saturday night was a work night, but the kind of work night I enjoy. I met up with Bill and Susy at Internet Outpost and they suggested we go to their place in Jimbaron for some fish. I’ve been a few times now and it’s always a treat.

I had drunk a couple of beers at I/O so took a taxi while they both rode their scooter. Amazing how fast you become a local here…’come down to our place we’ll lead the way.’

Arriving in the area I told the driver to take me to the fish market. He did, but the fish market wasn’t the area I was talking about, it was just a fish market. I said ‘no, the Ramayana restaurant’. We cruised up and down the strip but couldn’t find it. I told him about the parking area where buses pull in and finally locals gave him directions. I stood on the corner of the street at the entrance to the grills and ‘fish market’ and my friends arrived in a matter of minutes.

Susy and Bill had not eaten here before and I knew they’d like it. I picked out 2 snappers, 1 kilo of squid and 1 kilo of shellfish. We then sat at a table on the beach alongside groups of Chinese and Indonesian toursits.

It was cool to tell stories and fill each other in on some details. For example Susy worked at a restaurant in Washington DC and made a ton of money waitressing without lifting a plate. I guess she has some organisational skills that were appreciated.

I ordered a Bintang, Susy got a soft drink and Bill got a water. Then the food arrived sizzling and covered the whole table by the time everything was laid out. It so good to have a ton of food in front of you and great to share it with good people.

The strolling musicians came up to our table and I requesting a song by Santana ( Oye Como Va ). They could play well and I gave them 10,000rp.

Bill commented that there seemed to be more planes landing these days as we watched them land a couple of miles away over the water. You’ve got to love Bali, 2 miles from an international airport and you can sit on the beach and eat local style.

I had told my Blue Bird taxi guy to come back when I called his number ( 701111 car #226 ) from under the ‘big tree’ on the main road. Blue Bird is usually cheaper than the other taxis but he’s not allowed to pick up from the beach, only local taxis can do that, so I have to go to the main road.

I called the dispatcher and waited for 20 minutes but no show. When I reached my cut off point I hailed the next taxi to come and it was another Blue Bird, so I took it to I/O on Poppies II where I stayed till 12.30 doing e-mail.

Many people here don’t go out till 11pm-12am and I got a message from a friend that there was a party at a place on Double 6 road, but I was ready to call it a day.

Saturday night was a work night, but the kind of work night I enjoy. I met up with Bill and Susy at Internet Outpost and they suggested we go to their place in Jimbaron for some fish. I’ve been a few times now and it’s always a treat.

I had drunk a couple of beers at I/O so took a taxi while they both rode their scooter. Amazing how fast you become a local here…’come down to our place we’ll lead the way.’

Arriving in the area I told the driver to take me to the fish market. He did, but the fish market wasn’t the area I was talking about, it was just a fish market. I said ‘no, the Ramayana restaurant’. We cruised up and down the strip but couldn’t find it. I told him about the parking area where buses pull in and finally locals gave him directions. I stood on the corner of the street at the entrance to the grills and ‘fish market’ and my friends arrived in a matter of minutes.

Susy and Bill had not eaten here before and I knew they’d like it. I picked out 2 snappers, 1 kilo of squid and 1 kilo of shellfish. We then sat at a table on the beach alongside groups of Chinese and Indonesian toursits.

It was cool to tell stories and fill each other in on some details. For example Susy worked at a restaurant in Washington DC and made a ton of money waitressing without lifting a plate. I guess she has some organisational skills that were appreciated.

I ordered a Bintang, Susy got a soft drink and Bill got a water. Then the food arrived sizzling and covered the whole table by the time everything was laid out. It so good to have a ton of food in front of you and great to share it with good people.

The strolling musicians came up to our table and I requesting a song by Santana ( Oye Como Va ). They could play well and I gave them 10,000rp.

Bill commented that there seemed to be more planes landing these days as we watched them land a couple of miles away over the water. You’ve got to love Bali, 2 miles from an international airport and you can sit on the beach and eat local style.

I had told my Blue Bird taxi guy to come back when I called his number ( 701111 car #226 ) from under the ‘big tree’ on the main road. Blue Bird is usually cheaper than the other taxis but he’s not allowed to pick up from the beach, only local taxis can do that, so I have to go to the main road.

I called the dispatcher and waited for 20 minutes but no show. When I reached my cut off point I hailed the next taxi to come and it was another Blue Bird, so I took it to I/O on Poppies II where I stayed till 12.30 doing e-mail.

Many people here don’t go out till 11pm-12am and I got a message from a friend that there was a party at a place on Double 6 road, but I was ready to call it a day.