Meeting Veena Prasad in Kuta Bali

I got a call this morning from BootsnAll member Veena Prasad who had just arrived in Bali as part of a 3 1/2 month Asian tour.

We met at Internet Outpost and immediately recognised each other even though we’d never met. I guess it’s that “I’m a Boots member on the road” aura that stuck out. It was around lunchtime so we jumped on my bike and rode down Jalan Legian to Made’s Warung, place famous Indonesian restaurant catering to tourists and upscale Indonesians. Next to us was a family who’s kids were very cute and were having a great old time.

It was nice to be able to sit next to the street on Jalan Pantai Kuta and enjoy a nasi campur ( mixed rice ) for 15,000rp ( $1.80) while chatting with Veena. Born in India and living there until aged 17, Veena’s family moved to Peoria, Illinois ( a chilly move! ) and armed with padded jackets and hats became familiar with American culture. Now a citizen, Veena is also an engineer working for Proctor & Gamble in Cincinnati.

Veena is here in Bali for 5 days and was figuring out the best plan of attack. She was thinking of scuba diving but I helped knock that on the head, a certification takes 4 days and you can do it anywhere, might as well spend the 5 days exploring the island and what it offers.

I suggested taking the Purama bus to one of the many locations and Veena said she was hoping to get a massage. Ubud is famous for massage and spa like stuff so it would be a good place to check out, especially as it’s only 90 minutes away. That’s another cool thing about Bali that places like Thailand and Japan can’t offer….proximity to a lot of great things ( spas, arts, beaches, hills, villages, restaurants, nightlife and an international airport ) within a couple of hours of each other. Really the perfect place to visit if you’ve only got 5-6 days.

I had to get back to the cyber cafe and Veena wanted to walk so we said farewell outside Made’s and I told her to call me sometime to check on how she was doing.

I rode past the beach on Pantai Kuta and stopped to snap the scene at the top end of the street, including these motorcycle guys, and the surfboard rental place on the the beach.

Late in the afternoon I wanted to see how one of our old friends was doing so I went to a place called Benny’s on the beach at sundown and called Mark, from New York. He’s an antique dealer with a ton of local contacts. While waiting for him I ordered a beer and sipped on it. The waiter placed a bowl of peanuts in front of me…man they tasted good, but I pushed them away and told myself not to touch them.

Mark showed up and we were joined by a friend of his from Madura, Indonesia called Sam who is involved with shipping and batik sales. Mark told us animated stories of customers and how to deal with the cultural / language barriers here. Basically you have to listen and understand before throwing your weight around. Sam told us of foreign customers who sometimes expect superior quality, the best service and the lowest price. I told Mark and Sam about a quote from a book I am reading on business that Sean gave me. It talks about quality, service and price and says you almost can never be the best in all 3…..so pick 2 ( maybe quality and service ) and explain to your customers this is where your attention is focused.

Mark, an expat here for over 25 years is heading back to New York in 10 days on business. Living here in Bali sometimes feels a bit removed from reality and Mark told me he’s scared of going back. I can imagine how he feels, after you set yourself up over here you don’t want to have to deal with bureacracy and problems overseas and with the Indonesian immigration there’s always a potential curveball waiting.

As we were chatting my phone rang and it was Veena. She wondered if I wanted to eat dinner somewhere so I hurriedly wrapped things up.

I got ready to leave and I found myself searching around the bowl for the last peanut…man, these things are addictive!

I met Veena at Internet Outpost once again and we agreed to go to Mykonos restaurant on Jalan Laksmana ( Oberoi Rd ) in Seminyak. We sat outside, I ordered a snapper ( 25,000rp) and she had mousaka, which she claimed was the best ever.

We stolled down the street to my house and chatted about travel, BootsnAll, careers, Indian Americans and all kind of other stuff.

Once again it’s super to meet BootsnAll members in the flesh and especially during their trip.

I dropped Veena off at her hotel on Poppies I at around 2am and went home, the streets were the quietest I’ve ever seen them.

Hope to see Veena before she leaves and hear about her few days here.