Josh Grillo returns to Bali

An old familiar face showed back up in Bali yesterday.

Josh Grillo who spent a couple of months here last year arrived at Ngurah Rai airport at around 3pm from San Diego.

I knew he was supposed to be landing at that time but didn’t have any of the flight details. Arriving around 2.45pm I parked in the motorbike parking area close to ‘domestic’ and walked over to ‘international arrivals’. Between noon and 4pm is a madhouse as that is the time when back to back flights come in. There were a ton of hotel reps lurking and getting ready in their batik shirts and company signs.

A whole assortment of people were hanging around waiting and I started to think maybe Josh got the arrival date mixed up. Finally he came out of the gate and before I could say hi someone shouted “Grillo”. I didn’t realize it but a group of 6 of Josh’s college friends from N.Carolina had made the trip to Bali and were waiting for him. They are all eager surfers having attended a college on the coast and were out in Bali getting ready for a surfing tour to Lombok and Sumbawa.

I was thinking it would be hard to get myself and Josh on the bike with his boards but wanted to make contact. His friends are all staying in Seminyak and we agreed to meet up at Mykonos on Jl. Oberoi for dinner at 8pm. This was a perfect choice (Josh is on the left) as we managed to get a large table and sit outside. The weather has started to get slightly cooler in the evenings, its still hot don’t get me wrong but I don’t have sweat rolling off me anymore.

I ordered a Greek salad, a tuna fillet with potatoes and vegetables and an arak madu. My bill was 58,000rp. No complaints there and the food was great.

Our next destination was on of Josh’s old haunts, Santa Fe on Jl. Dhyana Pura. Getting there around 9.30pm the places was pretty dead which was okay with me as it gave me a chance to talk with everyone and hear what Josh has been up to. When he was out in Bali last year he was starting to put together a surfer’s travel guide to Indonesia and visited Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa and Java. He now works in the television industry.

Two of Josh’s friends are gay and the cool thing about Seminiyak is the selection of nightlife. I pointed out Q Bar and its neighbor Oxygen on Jl. Dhyana Pura that cater to the gay crowd. The lounge bar across the street is also a gay friendly joint. I don’t usually get to chat with gay people and it was cool to learn about a different social scene. I popped a few questions concerning the benchongs (transvestites) that seems to favor this neigborhood and learned that many of them are not in fact gay, but get off on attracting men. I don’t begin to understand what makes people tick but as in all situations involving people the truth is rarely just black and white.

While we sat at the tables next to the street and chatted Santa Fe filled up and the dance floor got rocking. The house band featuring 2 females singers had the place going off. For me the excitement of seeing Josh again, combined with many arak madu’s (arak, honey, lemon for 20,000rp) meant my evening was winding down. People started heading down the street and Josh headed to the dance floor. It wasn’t long before I was heading for bed.

I think Josh’s friends are loving Bali and I will throw bbq for them next Sunday.

If you are planning a trip to Bali now’s the time to book. Here’s our 10 day weather forecast.