Bali

Monday, June 18, 2007--Taipei to Singapore to Denpasar

I had a horrible night Sunday night. I had slept until 10:00 that morning, so I wasn't sleepy until almost 11:00. I spent much of the evening finishing reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hossein. It's a great book about Afghanistan. I give it 3 1/2 stars out of 4. But even after getting sleepy there were problems. The new apartment mates who arrived Saturday night from New York were so tired that they slept all day Sunday. Since they didn't come out of the bedroom until 17:00, they weren't sleepy that night. So as I tried to go to sleep, even though they were trying to be quiet, I could hear them moving zippers, talking quietly, bumping things, etc. I didn't get any sound sleep until after 2:20, because I was tossing and turning and checked my watch at that moment. Then the next thing I remember is the alarm going off--AT 3:45!!! Yuck.

I was quickly in and out of the shower and left the apartment at 3:05. The streets were mostly empty, so there was no problem walking to the bus stop. It was interesting to note that there were hundreds of kids milling around outside the movie theater as I passed. Since it was a holiday, there must have been a special event planned early in the morning. There were taxis arriving from all directions to bring more. I was at my bus stop at 3:25. The bus came at 3:35, and we pulled away at 3:40. We made three more stops and then arrived at the airport at 5:40. That gave me plenty of time to check in for my 7:10 flight. I was checked in and through security by 6:00. The airport had free Internet terminals, so I checked my e-mail. Then I tried to figure out how to spend my last 300 Taiwanese dollars ($9 U.S.). I tried to buy a novel, but every one I picked out whether thick or thin was just over 300. I finally bought the latest edition of Newsweek for 150 and a guava juice for 25.

I sat beside the cutest little boy on the plane to Singapore. He was traveling with his mother and they were speaking English to each other even though they were ethnically Chinese. He was so outgoing compared to the children I had seen in Taiwan. He and I teased each other a little before talking. We waved at each other. I poked him once as if I were going to tickle him, and he did the same in return. Finally, he, is mother, and I started visiting. Although I had thought he was only about 5 years old, he was in fact 7. They had been to California for a vacation and were returning home to Singapore. It was so nice to visit with him. He was definitely special. Unfortunately for his mother, what made him special was that he was hyper-active.

I have a friend in Singapore who writes often via e-mail. Because I had a 4 1/2 hour layover there, he wanted to come to the airport and have lunch together. He arrived about 13:00. We ate Italian food and then had a cool coffee freeze and visited. I gave him my Taiwan guidebook, since he goes there occasionally and knows others who go there. I didn't want the weight any longer, and I knew I wouldn't be wanting to return anytime soon. It was really nice to see him in person and have the visit, although he had to worry about carrying on business matters via the mobile phone during our time together.

On the flight to Denpasar, I watched a movie, La Vie en Rose, the French film about the life of Edith Piaf. It took the entire time of the trip. I really didn't know much about her life, so I enjoyed the film. And I enjoyed reading the English translations of her popular songs. But the editing of the film was something else. It jumped backwards and forwards in time over and over and over and over....

It's necessary to bargain on everything in Bali, and I didn't want to do that for a taxi when I arrived. So I just decided to walk to the area where I had decided I would get a room. It was only 19:30. I asked to make sure I was going the right direction to leave the airport, and then I asked again to make sure I turned the right direction after I left. It actually was a rather nice evening for walking. Occasionally, I would ask to make sure I was going the right direction. Although I had a map in my guidebook, I was having trouble finding someplace on the map to coordinate with what I was passing. And street signs are not a high priority in Bali. Eventually, after about 45 minutes, I finally KNEW where I was. It was no problem from then on. Within another 20 minutes, I easily found the place I had selected to stay. I was so lucky to find out that they had a room for me, since it was the last one available. It wasn't an ideal room, but they said I could change the next day if another became available. I was tired and went to sleep at 10:00.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007--Legian, Bali

I changed hotels this morning. The other place didn't have another room, and I didn't want to continue in that one. For one thing, it had a problem with ants. And they are vicious, small ants. They made me recall a movie I saw in the 1950s that took place in Africa and showed an ant invasion where they ate everything in sight over a few hours. I had seen a cockroach inthe room in the morning and killed it with my shoe. I just left it there on the floor and went outside on the porch to read. When I returned 30 minutes later, I saw a string of ants across the floor and a big group of them at one spot. I looked to try to see why they were there, but I couldn't see anything. I looked closer. Nothing. Then I remembered: that was where the dead cockroach had been left!

I moved to a similar place just across the lane. But the new room is cleaner and nicer. It, too, has a porch with nice chairs and a table. It overlooks a nice garden with flowering plants of many kinds. There is a pet monkey in the garden area. Anyway, it's a pleasant place to stay.

It's interesting to explore this area. There are many vacationers from Australia and Europe. But there are many hangers-on of various types--older hippies who have probably been here since the 1960s, surfers who never wanted to leave. In a way, it's a bit sad, though, to see a guy who is obviously in his early to mid-thirties walking around as a sagger--surfer who wears his pants low on his hips with his underwear showing. That works for teenagers. It starts to look awkward on college students in their junior and senior years. And it just looks sad on someone the age of some of these guys.

I picked out a place for lunch based on people being there already. I had a nice plate of stir-fried noodles with shrimp, pork, and chicken and topped with a fried egg. I ordered a melon drink to go with it. A man from Australia (who had immigrated there from Norway) shared the table with me. We visited about two hours. He's a dentist. It was an interesting conversation, but he couldn't help but take advantage of my being American to criticize the American government and Americans in general. Usually, people can do this in a way that shows they dislike the government without trying to lay the blame on individual citizens. He couldn't. It was like sticking the knife inand turning it while he had a captive enemy at the table. And I was the one who offered to let him share it; he was essentially my guest.

After walking along the beach and watching people suntanning, surfing, getting massages, etc. I headed back to the room. I was so tired that I fell asleep for about 1 1/2 hours. I probably won't be too sleepy tonight. I even missed the famed Bali sunset, although I think it may have been too cloudy tonight to have been good one.

This evening, I have walked away from the tourist areas. I found a group practicing for a dance performance. This month there are competitions between such groups. This group had male and female dancers (who performed separately) and a wonderful Indonesian orchestra of about 30 men. It was the music of the orchestra that was so wonderful to me. It was almost mesmerizing. I could have listened to it for hours, I think. It was nice to watch them in an informal rehearsal rather than being at a performance. I'll go to a performance later.