B....B....B...BALI

Well this leg of the journey and all its wonderful adventures wouldn't have been possible, without the help from my beautiful parents...so...just wanted to give a shout out to them...now (stretches out) let's get away from all that mushy stuff and get to the "real" action.

It's crazy to think that you get an idea...it sounds good, so you act on it, and all of a sudden BAM...you're in a brand new country. (I'm diving right into Bali, as I'll do a separate post on Kuala Lumpur) Flying into Bali was one of the prettiest sights I've ever seen. The shinning beaches, the surf breaking below and the shimmering blue water which surrounded either side of the landing strip. Pretty good set up if you ask me.



Next...it was trying to find a place to stay. Of course, I looked at all the places to stay in Bali and thought, geez, no biggie, I'll just roll up and find a place to stay in a snap...hmmmm...guess I forgot it was new years. So after I got scammed by the taxi driver, I began my gigantic adventure of finding a place to stay.

Three hours later, full of rain, soaked to the bone, but still with some life left to me, I found a place. This was lucky, because I was just about to say...screw it and pay a large sum of money for a big hotel room. But, that didn't need to happen, I found a hole in the wall place and a room for 7 dollars, I was set.

Then, I open up my bag to get a towel to dry off and...BAM...staring back at me with this greenish brown toothy green...a nice looking...cockroach...yum. So I swat that little bugger away, only to realize...hmmm...I don't really know where it went.(hopefully not still hiding in my bag.)

After drying off, I decide to fight the rain once more, and find a place to eat. Ends up being an awesome find, as I not only make friends with the owner, get a couple free drinks, but also get 20% off my bill. Great guy, and made sure I knew there were big plans for new years too.

My next day was spent exploring the magnificient piece of land of Bali. Of course I wasn't able to explore the entire island, but I was able to view many beautiful beaches in the surrounding area. The one downside in staying in the main central hub is there are millions of cars buzzing around, people constantly yelling at you trying to sell stuff and strips after strips of malls and big chain hotels...the good thing...it doesn't take long to walk away from it all.



After a small walk I was able to find a nice secluded beach. It had a great view of the surrounding beaches and clear blue water.



Soon I had garnered enough sun for one day and decided to explore the other regions of the beach. Here I was surprised to find loads of garbage, shipwrecked boats, a dead turtle, and three dead puffer fish. Earlier in my scuba days, I learned that puffer fish die after three attempts of self deffence(puffing themselves up)..hmmm I wonder whats causing all their deaths. Still cool to look at...specially the fresh one I found...and I know it was fresh...because I poked it with a stick...geez how else are you supposed to know?



Time to make my way back, and get ready for the crazy happenings they call...NEW YEARS EVE.

For dinner I had a great meal of calamari, salad and a drink for 5 dollars. Then it was off to visit my owner friend at the bar/restaurant Bali Rama. Imediately when I arrive he gives me a free drink of Baliese alcohol called Arak(50%) We jump in right where we left off the night before. Soon I find out many interesting stories, how he used to bartend for Carnival Cruise lines, how he got the business and his plans for the future. I literally thought of my Grandfather in Calgary when we were discussing all his restaurant plans and maybe because I had him in my mind, I thought of a great idea. "Would you like some help tonight?" I asked the guy. Sure he said.

So lo and behold, I landed my first foreign job. My task was to bartend and bring people into the restaurant by inticing with free drinks. Standing outside the restaurant behind a bar and telling people about the great deals, reminded me of my lemonade stand days. However, this...was much tougher. People just wouldn't believe that a white guy, like myself would be giving away ANYTHING FREE. Hmmm...my million dollar mouthpiece wasn't going to allow me to fail that easily.

I changed up my tactics and soon enough, people started warming up and pilling into the restaurant. I was more happy with the look on the owners face as payment, but he insisted I could have anything free that night. I did endulge, but it did't stop me from slipping 15dollars into the owners hand at the end of the night.



All right...bartending in Bali...check...now...off to the new years eve party. My craziest new years to date, buzzers, hats, horns, dancing and even balloons falling from the rafters after the countdown. (I had actually been thinking earlier that day how I'd never been to a new years party that had balloons falling from the ceiling...well check another one off the list)



The one thing this new years party didn't have...which I know someone would enjoy(nudge, nudge) It didn't have that annoying song that gets over played and played and played every new year to no ends...I forget the name of the song, but...oh great...just got that annoying tune stuck in my head.

Anyway, after the combination of dancing, drinking, counting down and more shenanigans, it was off to the beach for some fireworks. I grabbed an ice cold beer and just sat watching the fireworks explode overhead. A perfect time to reflect on the year and think about plans for the future. Good bye 2008, welcome 2009...definitely a great start to the new year...the beach...the weather...the fireworks...my nice cold beer. Now time to make my way back through this horrendous and treaturous traffic.



Whilst making the slow percession home, I finally came across an opening which could move me forward. So in one giant swoop of a stride I tried making it to that spot first. Unfortunately for me...so did a moped...SLAPITTY SLAPPITY...I get rammed right into the side of my leg...YESS...CHARLIE HORSE.

Luckily it wasn't anything serious...just me needing to limp a little to walk it off...also a great bruise for the next day. The best part was the girls face on the moped. I got knocked down and got up, then she asked me if I could walk...well...me being my witty self replied..."I can't feel my legs...oh no...I'm going to be paralized for ever"(this is still while standing)...sadly she didn't get the joke.

After all the shenanigans and basically doing nothing...it was time to get serious...time to do something intense...something I've never done before...something called...SURFING.



I signed up for this great class with an authentic surfer from Hawaii, especially after he gave me 10% off I was good and ready to go and hit the waves.

And that's literally what I did...hit the waves...face first...back first...side first and of course...belly first. But eventually...WOAH...I'M DOING IT...and then again and again and...SPLASH...hmmm maybe I was getting a little too cocky.



Still, the rush of surfing is unlike anything else. When you get up on the wave and take a look down and it's like you're walking on water, with the wind in your face...enthralling. I can now see why people find this addicting. Once you get up once, you want to get back up there and do it again, and again and again. You just don't want it to stop.



But, eventually it had to come to an end...lucky for me however, I had the afternoon lesson as well.

This turned out to be more than I could chew. I thought, learning to turn, taking on bigger waves and a few more surfing skills would help me alot. Well...in theary they probably would, but all that ended up happening was me getting beat up and bullied by the waves for three hours. I got dunked, drenched, dragged on the ocean floor and pretty much any other verb envolved with water. On the other hand, I did get up a handful of times on bigger waves and learn a few turn maneuvors, but when I get to Australia...I'm going to stick with the kiddie waves.



After surfing, I slowly draged my bruised, battered and soar body back to my little shanty where I was able to lie down and see a nice...ooozing green...yellowish red tinged...oh...my friend the cockroach. So I chased him between the door and squished him up...didn't want anything crawling into my mouth while I was sleeping...I've eaten rat...but juuuuust not ready for cockroach.



Good thing this was my last night in Bali.



A unplanned trip, turned into a beavy of adventures. Bali is definitely on my recommendation list. As I gazed from the airplane window out over the Baliness below, I thought...great plan, glad I came.