After looking for houses and working online I took a taxi out to Bali Land & Housing up on Jalan Raya Kerobokan, up the top end of Jalan Legian. Takes about 15 minutes to get there and costs about $2.
Jason was waiting and as soon as I arrived we took off to his place in Canggu. Rush hour is something that happens all over the world and 5pm Friday is a hotspot. We hit a traffic jam and I witnessed some very creative manouvering by Jason and others to get through this. Basically all the motorcycles / scooters zoom and weave past the cars on both sides. Sometimes we were sandwiched between trucks and a car travelling in our direction and had to squirm through. Anyway as soon as we passed the bottleneck the motorcycles turned into a pack of mosquitoes, whining and whirring down the twisting country lanes. I was hanging on, hoping no dogs would suddenly decide to cross the road.
The road to Canggu goes through some idyllic countryside, rice terraces both sides and rich green colors, steamy grey clouds overhead. Jason’s place is about 5 minutes walk from the beach and is a great little pad. I didn’t bring my camera as I knew we were going out with new people and I didn’t want to be poking the thing in their face. Susan you’d love this place, I’ll get pictures next time. He’s got a 2 room place with little kitchen and a large bathroon, veranda, hammock, little bar area outside and an incredible garden. It is overflowing with colorful plants and bushes and has 3 little circular shelters where 4 people can sit. There’s also a pond with fish. I asked how much this place rents for and he said around $270 a month.
Jason showed me a postcard I had sent him years ago, probably about 1998. It was an old photo of a Hawaiian surfer from 1890 and Jason had it laminated. On the back I had written that I was getting in multimedia and was excited about it. Doesn’t time fly?
We downed a couple of large Bintangs then went to dinner with some friends at a place in Seminyak called Made’s warung. This is a total expat hangout and a bit upscale. I had a traditional rice dish called Nasi Campur ( mixed rice ) and it was awesome. Separate piles of rice, chicken, fish, pork, sausage, and vegetables…very elegantly done. This cost 40,000rp ($4.50) and would of cost maybe 10,000 in a local place, but not to the standard of Made’s.
Jason got us some Arak Madurs, a local liquor type of margarita. Arak is pretty nasty stuff and I was glad it was heavily disguised.
We had about 5 other people with us including a Canadian lady on vacation and an Aussie guy who works for Cathy Pacific as an aircraft maintainance engineer. He gave me a great tip on internet access which I will investigate today.
Our final place was the Woodstock bar owned by a German couple. This was another expat joint and I stayed about an hour. I definitely get the feeling there are some people who have been out here a bit too long. Although there are more people moving to Bali a lot of the expats know each other.
I got a taxi from outside the Circle K in Seminyak and was home in 15 minutes. A very fun night.
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Nick
interested to know more about your comment on the expat scene “I definitely get the feeling there are some people who have been out here a bit too long”.
Care to expand?
Girlfriend & I are chucking in London living this summer to move Bali and so pleased to have found your site as it’s a mine of useful info - thanks.
How long are you in Bali for?
We expect to arrive June/July and we’re never going back!
Regards
V
Hi Vinny,
When I said there are people who have been here too I mean’t the kind of person who is seemingly down on everything in Bali ( the locals, the driving conditions, the government, etc, etc ) but who will never leave. If I get to the stage where I find myself complaining more than appreciating its time to move on.
A lot of westerners out here are real posers. You come out to Bali and you’re rich all and for some people its a real temptation to act like ‘lord of he manor’.
In the Seminyak area there are al ot of expats which is cool as you meet a variety of people who are into vastly different things and from many countries. When you’re out here if you meet someone who acts like they are too cool just ask them the question they don’t want to hear….’what did you do before you came to Bali?.’ In a lot of cases the answer is ‘not very much’. In my case it was pick up towels in a locker room in Oregon.
I hope to be here for a few years, we’ll see.
I’ll be happy to help you locate the importat stuff once you get here and answer questions. E-mail me anytime.
You are having just too much fun Nick.
Andy