Relaxing in Bali Jan 2012

Bali Blog 16 – 23 January 2012

Monday

My Chinese New Year / Spring Festival trip began at 8am on Monday the 16^th of January 2012 as I left my apartment, treading lightly past the hungover, semi-conscious bodies of my housemate and his two friends who grunted their goodbyes. I rode the subway for over an hour to the airport, and caught my flight to Kuala Lumpur (KL) in Malaysia just after 11am. In KL airport I ate lunch at an unfamiliar fast food chain called Merry Brown and used the WiFi in Starbucks with an iced lemon drink and a piece of “Chocolate Tuxedo” cake, very flavorgasmic indeed. I spoke to Yvonne and Sunshine, who I have adopted as my Chinese older sisters. I plan to visit Yvonne in Shanghai in February (she has kindly offered to buy my flights) and again with Sunshine at the end of March. Something to look forward to :) After a second flight, I bought my visa on arrival ($25). The man at customs was handsome and called me Katy Perry jokingly. I met the hotel's driver outside then it was a short drive to the hotel, a small walk down a dark and intimidating alleyway and I arrived around 10pm, in total a 14 hour trip door to door.

Tuesday

I slept soundly and on Tuesday morning I checked in and enjoyed the delicious inclusive breakfast of toasted sourdough with butter, honey and homemade papaya jam, fruit salad and juice. I spent the remainder of the day sunbathing by the pool. I read the entirety of Fenton Johnson's 'Geography of the Heart', which I thoroughly recommend. It is his account of two contrasting upbringings, experiences as a homosexual man in a time when attitudes towards and awareness of homosexuality and the AIDS virus were still limited. He tells the story of how he meets his partner and their unlikely relationship (one HIV negative, one HIV positive) until his partner's life is claimed by AIDS. Although it is a touching story, about a devastating event in the life of the author, I was left most of all with an impression of the power of unconditional love and a lot of hope.

Unfortunately I was so wrapped up in this excellent memoir, I got a little sunburnt!

The Island Hotel offers anyone staying for more than a certain amount of nights a free massage. On Tuesday afternoon, filled with the kinks and creaks of a long journey on top of weeks of teaching, I went to see the masseuse, who relaxed me into a stupor.

Wednesday

With an Australian girl I met, I went to the beach on Wednesday and we each bought a book. I chose The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. We had brunch at a restaurant on the sea front, which was completely delicious and reasonably priced. I had Eggs Benedict with bacon, and my new favourite drink, papaya and lime juice. I started reading my new book as soon as I got home and later we watched The Hangover on the big screen projector in the social area.

Thursday

On Thursday it rained in the morning, dampening our plans to visit the beach again. Later we joined a Canadian and two English girls for a pedicure then went to the beach as the weather cleared up. We paid patronage to Frank's Bar, a ramshackle collection of benches, simple wooden tables, beach umbrellas and a huge stack of Bintang beer crates. We drank and watched the sun go down, then we were joined by Frank, Josh and Budi. Frank was tall, slender but toned, with skin like black treacle and dreadlocks past his hips. He played the bongos as Josh brought the drinks and Budi, a 49 year old with a shock of wildly spiking grey hair, played guitar and rasped out 90s pop songs. We soon joined in singing at the top of our voices so that not even the wind could snatch them away. It was one of the girls' birthdays and as soon as they heard this, Josh also pulled up a bongo and treated us to a rendition of Happy Birthday, first in English, then in Balinese and one more time in English. It was powerfully positive and irresistibly rhythmic. I wished it was my birthday! Later, over a delicious dinner of Mexican food, we all agreed that bongos were definitely amongst those that made guys sexy musicians.

Friday

I read all of Friday morning and some of the afternoon to finish Stieg Larsson's 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo', which I found to be at times highly statistical, with a deeply detailed, potentially plodding storyline interspersed with several intense descriptions of rape and torture scenes. Perhaps not the most relaxing holiday read, but engaging nonetheless. I had handmade pizza for lunch, stone baked in an outdoor oven, very good indeed. That afternoon I spoke to my mum over Skype then visited the book shop and swopped my book (at only half the price) for 'Turtle Feet', Nikolai Grozni's memoir of his time as a Buddhist monk. Then I sat alone on the sand and watched the sun set over the Indian Ocean. I was joined by Budi, the 49 year old busker from the night before, and we talked about life, money, the job situation in England, technology, specifically iPhones, and his situation. He says the money he gets from busking goes to buy new guitar strings, which are expensive. The guitar was a gift from a foreign tourist 5 years ago and seems to have transformed his life. His passion for music is evident when he plays and sings, although he described his unemployment as 'lazy', etching the word thoughtfully into the sand as he said it. He often plays at Frank's bar because “Frank knows my story” and occasionally someone buys him a beer. Sitting with him on the sand, the waves threatening to tease our toes as they advanced, by only the light of three lonely stars and the civilisation behind us, I was struck by the beautiful simplicity of our exchange. How nice to listen and be listened to, removed from differences in culture, language and age. Especially so to feel safe and free of sexual predation in the sole company of a man I didn't know. I wandered home and watched Scott Pilgrim versus The World on the projector, a film which is endearing to me simply for the level of passion I imagine to have been shared in its creation. Meetings of geeks in Nintendo and 'Mmm... π' tshirts exclaiming “It would be so awesome if we put a Pee Bar behind his head!” and “How epic would it be if two CG1 dragons flew at them!” Haha~

Saturday

Breakfast on Saturday was just as delicious as all the other days. I caught Alex awake and on Facebook at around 3am UK time and we chatted for a while, always a pleasure. With two of the other hotel guests, I walked to the beach, but the weather was wet and windy and more than once on the way we had to wade through large dark brown puddles. After lunch I had my first hot stone massage with coconut oil. It was quite possibly the best massage I've had to date, lasting an hour and a half, and leaving my skin feeling soft with the coconut oil.

In the evening I watched 'Confessions of a Shopaholic' made barely watchable by the delicious Hugh Dancy. Afterwards, I listened to Steve, an Australian hotel guest with long grey hair and a guru style beard, sing and play the ukelele.

Sunday

On the last full day of my stay in Bali, I woke up late, ate breakfast, sloped around the internet before giving that up and going for a walk. I bought a vibrant tie dye scarf, the colours of the rainbow. On my way back, I bumped into Steve and we went for lunch, talking about language inquisition, history and music. I feel I have given more time to the older generation this trip, which has left me surprised at and proud of myself. I see it as a positive thing, and hope I can continue it. For the rest of the day I browsed the internet, speaking at the same time to my friend Tom in England and my friend Johnson in his hometown of WuHai in Inner Mongolia. Technology has such a potential to consume our time and take over our lives in a negative way, but without it, the life of a traveller would be increasingly lonely and difficult to organise.

I leave The Island Hotel and Legian at 11am tomorrow morning to catch a flight to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. I will meet my friend Jane there, who has promised a trip back to Penang and motorbike lessons. Now that I feel I have given myself ample relaxation time in Bali, filling days with plans to do sweet nothing or little, I'm excited to start a busier holiday. After that, of course, I will return to China and to work to see my children. Life just gets better :)