Sammi and Susie's on June 24 where we had the pleasure of meeting C_Shell and her lovely family, and Adrienne (Addy of Oz) and Frank in Perth. We were first there and wondered where everyone was but soon there was a big gathering, though not many were from the forum. I guess a good venue is a good venue for all!
I know some folk find it hard to find S & S's, so I noted down more precise directions. Yes, it is indeed on the beach where Legian Garden Hotel meets the Mandira and there is a life savers stand nearby too. But look for what looks like a white closed local station/office building on the side of the paved road, and on it a sign that reads POS BALAWISTA LEGIAN KELOD Kabupaten Badung. Face the ocean and step through the gap in the stone wall onto the beach and there it is!
Look out for a couple or three beach umbrellas and a couple of eskies. I was thrilled to see Sammi was there as I had heard he had not been coming for a while. It was great to meet others having a great time in Bali and now I can put faces to names!
Roadworks
We were impressed to see how late into the night some of the workers on the roadworks worked. Our driver told us part of the problems delaying the progress is that workers are not paid much at all, and corruption has filtered off about half the money paid for the job to be done into officials' pockets. A taxi driver told us three workers had been killed while working. After that, I took time to stop and share a few words with the guys working into the night, telling them that they were doing great work and it was bagus for Bali. Such beaming smiles back at our smiles...I guess they got more scowls as a rule!
Other moments...
Bruce miming to the lady in a little dairy-type shop why we had giggled at the packets of Titlis sugarfree candy on the counter..the look on her face when he patted his flat chest and I said 'tidak susu' and she grasped the meaning (at least the phonetic meaning) of titlis. Hearing her explain the laughter to a workmate as we walked out after purchasing some, and hearing the workmate laughing too.
Daughter developing a black eye (over a day or so) after meeting her surfboard face-first as she emerged from the waves on her first surfing lesson.
Chicks- two guys rode past on bicycles with a big oblong cage strapped to the back of each bike...each cage stuffed with a hundred or so baby chicks that had been dyed all different colours! I took a photo. Wondered if it was for a store promotion or something like that. Asked our driver later in the day and he said it was so they did not get lost so easily.
The guy at the airport at Denpasar that approached me and asked if I was Australian. (I am always tempted to ask them if they are Javanese in reply..hehehehe). No, from New Zealand, I said in Bahasa Indonesian, using one of the last opportunities to practice. Ah, he said, could I possibly change $50 worth of $1 and $2 coins into NZ notes for him? Loved the beaming smile when I produced an immaculate brand new NZ $50 note for him.
Bruce turning to me as he sat outside our lovely unit at Tegal Sari Bungalows in Ubud, taking in the fantastic view of the rice fields, and saying "Wow, it is like something out of Somerset Maugham...I can't understand why we have not stayed in Ubud before." Aaaargh...I have been trying to convince him to include Ubud in our travel plans the last three visits and he vetoed it! Men!
Eldest daughter got a temp tattoo painted on her upper arm as we sat at Sammi and Suzi's on the beach. It was that good luck symbol of Bali. When our driver (lovely young man) took her to the beach a day or so later for a surfing lesson a priest told her, via him, that it was not appropriate for her to wear this symbol in such a way (as a casual body adornment). Apparently it would have been worse if it was on the lower half of her body. She was aghast that she had caused offence and came home and tried nail varnish remover and anything she could find to try and scrub it from her skin. She got it back to a faded shadow. I was surprised the Balinese person had applied it in the first place! ( I am not a fan of these temp tattoos as I have seen some awful infections and scarring from them, but she does not seem to react to it and was determined to have one).
I had to post a parcel to a friend in Australia for her birthday. Time was short so I packed it in my carry-on bag to post airmail from Auckland airport. Got there and they had run out of international postage stickers! Argh! Amazing...no other postal services at Auck airport. Would have to take parcel with me to Bali and back again and miss birthday. Got to Brisbane and tentatively asked in transit area bookshop if I could post it there. They said they could sell me postage if security approved but could not post it for me, but security might be able to post it in the other part of the airport. Told security woman my dilemma. No problem, she said. Get postage and bring it back to her. (Postage was cheaper as I did not need airmail and what's more, it arrived on friend's birthday). The security officer posted it for me! How brilliant is that! Australia 1, New Zealand 0.
Using Balinese language..being corrected. Most Balinese were delighted I tried to converse in their language. Some would gently bother to correct my pronunciation, which I valued. One favourite memory is of this young guy who decided (when I was shopping at some stalls) to correct my inflection in the word 'sudah' in front of his mates, as I had been placing too much stress on the first syllable and not enough on the second. He cockily called out the word back to me, twice, exaggerating the correct inflection. When I stopped and turned back a few paces and tried the word again to him, and he realized I earnestly wanted to get it right, and I thanked him for helping me learn, his face changed from mocking me, to surprise, to embarrassment, and then to that radiant smile the Balinese share...the smile that transcends countries and culture and birth and gender...that moment when we link with another human being with warmth and acceptance of our sameness and our differences. And people ask me why I keep going back to Bali!
Well, that is it! I am sure I will be popping up in answer to other people's posts for a good while yet, but if there is anything you want more info on, please just ask. And thank you, everyone, for all the info I have gleaned from the forum in preparation for this latest trip to paradise!