First Trip to Bali

This past week, I had the good fortune of being able to take a trip to Bali. While I wish I could say that it was for some exotic hollywood action film, it was actually because my girlfriend Mari was going there to look into a few Indonesian products she was interested in selling, and as she's all of 4'11" and about 90 lbs, she needed me to come along to look out for her while she's there and assist with any language difficulties. (Id venture to guess that having someone my size and stature behind here while she is negotiating probably didnt hurt either.)

In any event it was a great trip. We flew out on Singapore Airlines, which coincidentally was the airline I used the first time I left the states to come to Asia 13 years ago. I remember it well because at the time I really had no idea what to expect flying out on a non-American airline, and was shocked at how good it was. (Back then they actually had super nintendos build into the seats). Flying out this time, yet again, Singapore Air did not disappoint. The movies, TV shows (and yes still video games) selection was excellent. And as we had our own monitor, with the movies I could start and stop them whenever I saw fit. The legroom was also great (even for a guy my size), and the seats had built-in adjustable headrests, so finding a comfortable sleeping position wasn't an issue at all. Definatley the way to go if you are heading to SE Asia.

We had a brief stop in Singapore`s changi airport, and wish I could have gone out to see the city (haven't been there in at least 10 years) but the airport was nice enough that killing time wasn't really an issue.

Once we finally arrived, we started off in a hotel called Bakung's Beach Cottages. While it did have its charm points (friendly staff, a pool with a built-in bar) it was also in the middle of a long, very dark alley that I didnt like the look of at night at all. Furthermore, as our air-con didnt really work, it was hard to sleep in the heat and made the room uncomfortably hot during the day. By chance however, we met the duty manager of another hotel called the Grand Whiz, (a really well traveled and friendly local guy named "Rai") and after we mentioned our complaints with the room, he offered to let us switch to his hotel at a discounted rate. The Grand Whiz was amazing, and we left there with absolutely no complaints about it. Rai also introduced us to his brother, (who also worked in tourism and hospitality) who acted as our driver to all the places Mari needed to go for business, and for our leisure time as well. Probably the highlights of the trip for me was seeing live performances of fire-dances and the Kecak Dance, as well as the terraced rice paddies. Also had a chance to get the Dr. Fish treatment again for the second time. (Submersing yourself in water and letting fish eat all of the dead skin off of you.) In Korea, the first time I did it, I got a full body treatment and lying there motionless was probably one of the greatest acts of discipline I have ever engaged in. This time it was just on my feet, so it was a lot easier to deal with ;)







Also had a chance to ride what was called the Bali Flying Fish, and that was pretty wild as well. As her business trip (and our experiences there) were all pretty positive, if Mar and I did end up staying in Japan for the long run, it is likely that we would start spending the winter months there because she could do quite well with exporting from there. As for myself, I would probably concentrate mostly on writing. At the same time however, I still have a lot of goals to accomplish in terms of both action and martial arts, so I have a feeling I would get pretty restless.... As beautiful of a little place as it is. Maybe after I retire. For now I still got stuff to do. ;)