One arrives one leaves in Seminyak Bali

Saturday Sean, Chris ( my brother) and I rode our motorbikes down the Bypass from Seminyak all the way to the airport to pick up Chris from Brisbane.

The sun was blazing and our trip took about 25 minutes, a slick way to go rather than fight the traffic on Jl. Legian.

Chris was slightly early, his Air Paradise flight from Melbourne coming in at around 2pm and he appeared shortly after we got there. The international arrivals area at Ngurah Rai airport isn’t very big so you won’t miss your contact if its your first time here. He and my brother drove home in a cab while Sean and myself rode back on the bikes. Taking your bike to the airport is no stress, they have a special entry lane ( 5,000rp) and parking area.

The last time I saw Chris was back in August in Bangkok where he, Sean and I met for a quick business get together.

Being Saturday we had one appointment we just could not miss….football at Stadium Cafe on Jl. Kartika Plaza. Liverpool were playing Newcastle at 8.30pm and even torrential rain couldn’t stop us from arriving on time. I had my ex girlfriend Yumi reserve us a table and we sat back and enjoyed the massive screens and pitchers of beer.

After maybe 5 minutes my phone went off and it was a call from Juliana, Balinese reader who has just returned home. Almost simulataneously I recieved an sms from Soppy, webmaster for Pissedupasia.com. “I’m the fat bastard at the bar.” his message said. I quickly found him and he joined us. Soppy lives in Surabaya Java and is on a banzai mission this weekend to do ‘research’ on the drinking scene here.

We ordered some starters…fries, chickens chunks and calamari. We agreed they were not that special and went for a main course. I chose snapper ranchero, a Mexican style dish with refried beans, rice and a fish topped with chunky sauce. The dish cost 32,000rp and was decent.

The end of the game saw the 2 teams share the points at 1-1. We caught a cab ( all 5 of us! ) to Jl. Dhyana Pura. Santa Fe now sucks because there is no live music. The local banjar told everyone to turn down the noise and live music is one of the casualties. We moved on to Liquid and sat out front sipping White Russians. I think all of our energy levels were sagging but at least my brother Chris had enough left to chat up one of the ladies at the bar and bring her back to our table. She seemed friendly and joked with us while Sean quizzed her on what she did for a living.

We wrapped things up and walked home which is 5 minutes away.

Sunday breakfast was at Ku De Ta on the beach. It is located along Jl. Oberoi next to the Oberoi hotel. This is a cool spot, not the cheapest place but a very nice setting. My fruit salad and yoghurt was listed at 20,000rp.

The whole time I was sitting there I couldn’t stop looking at the waves coming in. They were small and glassy, just right for us greenhorn surfers ( that’s beginner for those who are wondering).

Chris (my brother ) got off to the airport at around 11.30 and I think he went away with a pretty positive impression of Bali. Hope we comes back in a few months. For a visitor with only a week to play with look at what Chris got to do. He checked out the shopping in Kuta, spent an afternoon lounging under the trees on Kuta beach mixing it with the vendors, ate at Made’s Warung, bathed in a waterfall, hiked in the forest, drove around the east coast, learned to surf and checked out the nightlife. Its all possible if you organise your time the right way.

• Meeting my brother at Ngurah Rai airport in Tuban Bali
• Sean left for Oz
• Meeting Chris and Erica in Kuta Bali
• Leaving Seminyak in a Bluebird taxi
• Interview with repeat Bali visitor Chris from UK-part I

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