Goodbye Thailand...hello Bali!

Alright, here it goes and not all good this time...

So it turns out that i left my sunglasses at the bowling alley, and that was that, they are gone. But thanks to my wonderful friends and family, I was able to get new ones in Bangkok before leaving the country and heading for Bali, which is good since it has been very sunny here.

On Monday we slept in, then went to have a tasty snack/lunch at one of the roadside snack shacks that are everywhere here. Noodles with pork balls and some great chicken sate. Then we went to town where Methet and Angie got facials and I had a lovely, long (two hours) massage. After that we picked the kids up from school, then I got into the pool while Methet and Angie played tennis.

If there was one good thing about loosing my sunglasses on sunday, it happened during my swim. For one, I was really mad at myself to loose the sunglasses so I took it out on the pool water by swimming particularly hard and fast. Also, because of going bowling, i had tweaked my left buttock a little (Lyn and Shelly will know my issues with the good ol' pirformis muscle.) So while swimming the little bugger was acting up... but breakthru! I finally figured out how to engage the gluteous without getting the pirformis also (pain being an excellent motivator) -- a struggle i have been dealing with for six or so years -- trying to separate the two -- and for at least the rest of that night the pirformis was still and pain was no more!!

Tuesday it was back to Bangkok for Angie's last minute shopping and my dental appointment. The dentist office was a large place and I had one of the best and quickest cleanings ever. During the consultation, the dentist did not recommend having the work i was thinking of doing, but of course they would do whatever i wanted them to do. BUT they needed more time than my planned return to Bangkok allowed to get everything all done, so I have decided to skip that. (Also the cost savings was not a great as i anticipated, so if i have issues in the future its back to Dr. Anderson in gunny.)

Then we went on an excursion to replace the lost sunglasses. We went to one place and they said, one week, which didnt work because i was leaving the next day, but place number two agreed (after some haggling) to do it in about two hours.

While waiting for the glasses to be ready, two of Methet's friends who live in Bangkok and are also Philipinos met us at a restaurant where got a bite to eat. They were lively company and really funny, which was just what i needed at the time since i was a bit down on myself for loosing my favorite sunglasses.

By the time we finally got back to Pattaya, Rick, Methet, Angie and i had a most delightful and delicious Thai dinner at this really cool restaturant that was on a hill, almost a cliff overlooking a not quite crescent beach below with the towers of Pattaya city in the distance and nearer condo towers along the beach. The restaurant was all open air, like a lot of things here in tropical asia (including this internet cafe), and had dining areas that stepped down the hill towards the sea. What a delightful farewell dinner from Thailand. Rick and Methet are such wonderful hosts, and I look forward to seeing them and the kids when i get back from New Zealand.

Then it was back to the Truscott's house for packing. And I finaly got to sleep around midnight. 4 AM came awful early (which is when we had to leave for the airport for the trip to Bali), but the flights were delighful -- now i know why singapore airlines is considered one of the worlds best. And we arrived without incident in Bali.

After the very long imigration line (a little over an hour) we made it thru customs in about 15 seconds, and here we were (or rather are). And we made it to the hotel that Angie had stayed in before in Kuta where she is doing some more buying. It was quite a bit more run-down than Angie remembered and there is a doorway with a balinese stand-alone wooden post and lentil affair -- those in CB can see examples of this type of carved wood with some of the pieces Blake has at Mabuhay. Now the balinese are typically short/small asian persons, and I must of hit my head on the darn thing about three times before figuring it out. They said it would be a little noisy in our room, and noisy it was! The dog started the occasional bark at around 4(?) in the AM and Angie found the clinking bell on his collar the most annoying. By 6 or so the place was a buz with the ladies next door (about 2 meters next door) getting their day started. But for about $12/night with airconditioning, what does one expect? So we decided to change hotels to one that is much quieter, nicer and with a bigger pool.

(Quick aside, one of those things you dont really remember in hindsight, but is definitely an issue when you are here: In the US cigarette smoking is practically penalized by death these days, no more smoking in public spaces not even bars, or even near doors to public places in CO at least. Well not so here. The Balinese smoke a clove type cigarette and the aussie/euro crowd, well they are smokers too, and smoking is permitted everywhere, in the restaurants, etc. For examle, I am sitting here writing this blog for oh about an hur, and here walks in some white guy... he's german by the language on the screen... who has to choose the computer right next to me even though the whole place is empty. He immediately lights up a cigarette and starts to chain smoke.. he is on number two in his 15th minute here. Another aside, on Sunday we ate at a Japanese Sobu restaurant on Sunday with the truscotts, and Rick mentioned that he felt a little out of place since we didn't bring their dog with us. Sure enough, virtually every other table had a little yippy dog at it.)

Now I arrive in this country not speaking a lick of Indonesian, but they speak fairly good english (it must be all the aussie tourists that come here for the surfing and heat?) But that is ok, because Angie who has been here often (fifth time) speaks about as much Indonesian as I speak Thai which was sort of our arrangement, I lead in Thailand, she in Bali (although with Methet being our guide most of the time, I think i got the better end of that deal). It seems to me that the Balinese, at least the ones i have met so far, and admittedly Kuta is a bit on the tourist trap side of things, speak better english than even the Thai (english is an official language there), so coping with the language barrier has been very easy so far.

The balinese people are very nice, and outgoing, they like to engage in conversation, which I learn in the Lonely Planet book is one of their cultural idiosyncrasies = the need(?) to engage in small talk. I find that if I pause and take the time to converse just a little bit, I get a very pleasant smiling, engaging conversation, and often learn something too. They seem to very much appreciate it as their typical interaction with the Australian tourists seems to be the cold shoulder. Admittedly the initial contact is hey buy this chachi, or can i get you a taxi, "Hey Boss, you need transport?" It just goes to show that a little smile, and some small talk can turn what might be an exhausting exercise in "quit pestering me" into a pleasant little chat.

So I am worried about not hearing from Genevieve to firm up my travel plans, since I am supposed to meet her in about ten days from now. You know you've got good freinds when you put out the call via email to our common friends to see if anyone knows if she is off the ice (left Antartica) or not, and within that day you get the message, that she is. And, as if she heard me calling psychicly that day, here at last is the email from Gen that I have been waiting so impatiently for. It is so nice to hear how happy she is to be free of the instituional life, in fact I will share some of the email with you just so you know how great it is to here it (yo followers in CB, stop by the PO and remind Adele to check out my blog):

Hi Honey!!I'm in christchurch enjoying the warmth, smells, and foods of the real world.I'm traveling with my good pal Jolene to Tonga on the 20th. We have a house on Vava'u until the 26th.We'll then make our way to Hapa'ai. I'll fly back to Auckland early morning on the 4th. That's it for plans. I'm kind of just going day to day enjoying the non-institutionalised life! It sure is grand, isn't it!!! So, let's meet in Hapa'ai around the 28th - give or take a day for Tongan time. Try to get a flight back to Auckland for the 3rd or 4th. We can then go from there. There are a few places on the North Island that I want to go and some friends that I want to see but for the most part, it will be fun renting a car and just exploring. I think I'll be flying out of Christchurch back to Denver around the 19th or 20th, but I'm not sure yet (I have to talk to the Raytheon travel folks today or tomorrow.)Yea!!!! I love New Zealand and want to stay here. I love it, I love it. Depending on how things go, we can visit Nick Frame in Wanaka. Do you remember him?Give Ange a big hug for me and apologize that I'm slow with my responses. And then remember to take deep breaths and have a good time.


It is hot here in Bali. Ange swears it is not hotter than Thailand, but I swear it is. I found out what it is though, in Thailand there was a breeze, or lots of fans, or it rained often. Or if it did not rain, the cloud cover cooled Thailand down. In Kuta, there has been no breeze. Speaking with one of the Balinese who was selling kites on the beach. (By the way it is a lovely beach, wide with soft reddish yellow sand, and the ocean water is quite cool, just the thing for the afternoon swim/cool down.) And remembering that even though I did not want a kite, i talked with him a while... where are you from ... Colorado in the USA ... california, no colorado -- i draw a map of the USA in the sand, pont out california and texas, then the square of Colorado -- Oh in the middle ... yes it is very mountainous and high ... i live at 3000 meters and it is already cold and snowing there ... etc. He is very engaged and seems quite interested in the conversation. That leads to him commenting on how very hot it has been. He thought it was at least 3 or 4 degrees celcius hotter than usual because of the lack of breeze. All i know is that i feel like i am in a sauna, no matter what activity I am engaged in, even if it is just sitting at a table for dinner, or walking down the street, or negotiating for a tour, or whatever. Yes even now in the internet cafe inhaling the second hand smoke from the German guy, with a fan blowing above, my shirt sticks to me like a teenybopper wet t-shirt contest, and sweat stands in large beads on my forehead, occasionally running into my eyes.

But this is what I wanted, right? escape from the cold at home? On the positive side of the heat, with the heat, my back is so completely relaxed, that i am having very few issues with it. So even while, i find it sweltering beyond belief, that is very big upside.

--- oh dear there goes cigarette number three! Hey i bet Phillip Morris stock is a great buy now with the recent down turn! They will undoubtedly still sell their cigarettes to everyone else in the world even if the US is anti-cigarette nazi world, no longer like the scenes of the Good Night and Good Luck Clooney movie. ---

Last night (thursday) we ate at a restaurant that was run by an aussie coupl. We choose it because it had a lot of people in it, many more so than the comparable restaurants down the street, and we figured, hey its crowded it must be good. And it was good. But unlike Thailand where virtually anywhere you eat it is going to be good, Bali is a hit or miss, mostly miss, kinda place (so far). The one wonderful exception is the great vegetarian restaurant/juice bar (Aromas) where i can get shots of wheat grass and some of the most interesting and delightful fruit juices i have ever tasted. Yum; real, whole food. But i digress: The aussie's restaurant. We noticed that there seemed to be a bunch of people at the other tables looking at stacks and stacks of obviously pirated DVDs, games, CDs or whatever. Then we noticed that the guy who was selling these pirated DVDs is wearing a local police uniform! Is that rich or what? The cops are the ones pushing the stolen goods onto the australian tourists!

I do not really like Kuta, it is a city, it is too hot, too crowded with too many white tourists, and too much traffic, etc. The only good thing has been to relax, read some in the book, hang out in the pool, walk around on the very nice beach, splash in the cool ocean. So it is nice to relax a little, but i can deal with less cigarettes, less deisel fumes, etc. Ange is almost done, so we will be leaving sunday for a couple other places for her buying, and then off to the Gili islands which is supposed to be some of the best snorkeling in the world. It will be nice to get out of the "city" even tho this is nothing like Bangkok which is a mostly modern first world city in the year 2008.

JEEZUS cigarette number five!!! I have to post and sign off.

Until next time,

Newo Out.