Metting Allen and Cindy in Kuta Bali

Tuesday morning I woke up and my water was not working. In the tropics you tend to sweat almost continuously and not being able to shower for 24 hours made Nick a smelly boy.

After talking to Sean on the phone from Oregon I got onto Kadek from Bali Land & Houses who came over to have a look at the situation. My house gets its water from a well that uses an electric pump. The power was working but the pump wasn’t and is located in the neighboring house. Too complicate things that house is vacant so no one else noticed.

Kadek told me he needed to contact a worker to come and fix it and I waited in my back yard area practicing taking shots with my camera and reading Pagan Holiday by Tony Perrotette.

I had a lunch appointment and didn’t want to show up looking like refugee so I called Mick Turnbull who has just returned from Hong Kong. He lives in Umalas which has villas for expats and is close to the new Café Moka. Mick had his housekeeper Wayan open the door for me at his place.

As I was getting into the shower my phone went off. I managed to get it out of my shorts which were on the floor before it stopped ringing, “Hello Mr Nick, this is Made from Bali Land & Houses, your water is fixed.” I was glad they got it straightened out, quick work.

My lunch appointment was with Allen and Cindy from Florida who contacted me through the site. They have been travelling in Asia for a year and are involved with ‘fair trade’ a movement that encourages an alternative world trade system. Allen and Cindy have travelled extensively in SE Asia and are very aware of the economic and social effects of world trade / globalization.

We agreed to meet at TJ’s Mexican restaurant on Poppies I at 12.30pm. TJ’s is Bali’s first and best Mexican restaurant and has been around since 1984. Allen and Cindy know the owner and told me on the night of the Bali bombing that she phoned the restaurant from the US and told them to change the sign out front ( ‘California – Mexican’) to ‘Mexican’ after she heard American businesses might be targeted.

Allen and Cindy were actually in Kuta on the night of the bombing and told me there own amazing story. They were staying on Poppies I and were going to meet friends close to the Sari Club. In fact their driver was dropping them off about 20 yards from the Sari Club. As things worked out they left a few minutes late and got caught in traffic. Allen told me they had the air con on and the music blasting and although they didn’t hear the bomb go off saw people on the sidewalk get blown backwards. Obviously it was a nerve wracking experience and we’re glad they are both okay.

When the food arrived it looked lovely, I ordered a beef tostada and a melon juice which cost 35,000rp. It was delicious! TJ’s really does serve great food. Allen and Cindy agreed their tacos were top notch too.

Cindy, a lawyer back in Florida told me about the shaky legal system in Vietnam and Cambodia whereby guilty or innocent often depends on how much money you have. She said the situation is probably similar here in Indonesia as the strength of a legal system often is reflected in the bar association.

We had very interesting conversations about foreign companies and how workers are exploited. I brought up Nike who I was initially against when I first came over in January. The idea of an Indonesian worker making $1 per day while Nike sells shoes at $150 doesn’t sit well from a western perspective and words like ‘sweat shop’ come to mind. However after coming to Indonesia and talking with locals about their jobs and about their opinions on Nike I don’t think they are worse than anyone else and its very likely they give their employees better working conditions than many local employers. I think Allen feels something along those lines but Cindy leans more towards the ‘sweat shop’ description. Allen told me that Nike prefer workers who are 17-25 and when they hit 25 replaces them. They often come from the countryside and even though they make higher wages than they are used to, they have to spend more to live in the town, saving little. Allen said many ex Nike employees end up living in the city after their job has finished with kids as a result of contacts with other workers. I guess it’s a whole cycle that repeats. You can’t blame it all on Nike, but have to admit there is a dynamic going on that suits them and often leaves the worker in a less than ideal situation.

Allen and Cindy are very interesting people and as usual cool people know others. They gave the contact info for a group called Adopta Co-Op in Denpasar which is made up of widows of the bombing. Allen explained to me that many aid agencies help locals develop a product and that’s fine, but doesn’t help them get it to market. Its one thing making wonderful baskets, but getting someone in LA buy one is the trick.

After 3 hours we wrapped things up. Allen and Cindy have another couple of days here in Bali before their trip home. I will check out some of their connections and point anyone to them who is interested.

On a totally unrelated topic here’s some advice for chocolate lovers. If you get a chocolate craving make sure you buy your candy bar from an air conditioned shop like Circle K. In those mom and pop places that just have a fan the staff are sweating and so is the chocolate. You open your candy bar and half the chocolate is glued to the wrapper. Its happened to me often enough that I take this into consideration now.