Buying a new pot and a little info on Mads Lange in Seminyak Bali

A sunny morning here in Seminyak Bali had me dealing with sore throat.

This time of the year everyone is hacking and spitting and little germs get passed round quite easily. Anyway no worries.

Nyoman came round to fix my bike and left me a little note that he passed under the door.

He showed up a while later relieved that I am still in the country and that his motorbike is around.

My new house has a lot of things going for it, garden, AC, fridge, furniture. One thing it doesn’t have is a pot, or at least one that I’d want to use. Bintang supermarket on Jl. Legian in Seminyak has an upstairs section for household goods, pots, pans, fans etc. They even have small bbq sets which I am looking at.

I picked up a pot for 35,000rp that looks sturdy. It has a glass lid and teflon coat. I did see aluminum pots but I know they are not good for cooking anything with a tomato sauce like pasta or beans.

I wasted no time in brewing up a cup of Bali kopi and its good!

Europeans have been coming to Bali since 1597 when the Dutch landed in Kuta and one of the most famous was Danish trader Mads Lange who came to Bali in 1839. In less than 20 years after his arrival he managed to set himself up as the ‘White Raja of Bali’ simultaneously delaying Dutch sovereignty of the island and also putting it on the trade map.

Mads Lange first went to sea at age 18 and by 1833 had a trading outpost in Lombok. His business involved selling rice to China and Singapore in exchange for kepeng, which are Chinese coins, opium and other goods.

One problem for Mads was an English guy called George King ( don’t you hate those pesky English guys in Indonesia) who with the help of a local raja manage to force Mads out. He subsequently moved to Bali and set himself up in the Kuta area.

Lange enjoyed great business success in Bali and his 2 main activities were trading in rice and acting as a middle man for local Balinese produce. His ‘ace in the hole’ was he paid locals in kepeng and set the exchange rate himself.

During this time he lived in a family compound with his wives and other companions (was he related to Mick Turnbull…we’ll have to wait and see!).

The street close to the night market in Kuta is called Jl.Tuan Langa after him, although I reckon if you ask a Balinese local they would have no idea about this.

One of the highlights for Lange was his appointment by the Dutch ( remember he’s Danish) to the post of official agent for the Dutch East Indies government in 1844. His personal contacts which included the higher ranks of Balinese society and his trading connections meant he was in a great position. However his new role was tricky because the Dutch were invading the north of Bali and had a naval blockage on the south. Lange had to smooth things over with the locals and in 1849 managed to get both parties to sign a treaty. This meant Dutch rule in the north of Bali and an end to the blockade in the south. After the treaty was signed there was huge party at Lange’s house attended by 30,000 people (this guy was related to Mick!).

That was pretty much the highpoint for Lange as in later years trading in the region focused on other places.

In 1856 Lange decided to return to Denmark but right before leaving fell ill and died. The rumor was he was poisoned by a local raja. He was buried at his home and his tomb remains to this day.

Putu is busy at work again and surprise surprise she’s a White Sox fan! Man I tell you its amazing where these Chicago wannabee’s show up.

Sitting here on my porch I’m sweating like a whore in church and am about to zoom down to Kuta to get things moving.