Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Home From Bali!

Well it certainly was an exciting 12 days. The trip there was about 37 hours all together. The longest being a 14 hour stretch on EVA air. But I was middle class so the seat reclined and other than the guy next to me coughing all the time it was very pleasant. The layover in Taiwan was fun. All the shops were manned by young kids in suits, black with pink shirts. Very high tech looking and professional. Arriving to Denspar was hot.. the air port was hot and there was my first real exposure to Bali. Lots of fast driving cars.. tons of scooters. Mothers with high heels and kids on scooters, and 3 people piled on with no shoes. The scooters drove really fast too and even when it rained they still drove fast. I asked on driver how come I never see anyone walking on the streets.. he said it is cuz they scoot everywhere. The hotel was considered a 5 star in Bali. It was really a beautiful resort with lots of old Indonesian charm and charter. The registration was open air, and there were many lush gardens and the ocean. I had a Balinese massage to start the time off. Monday started the 6 day "Date With Destiny" program with Tony Robbins. 800 people were there and it was fantastic. Long days. Most nights we got back to the hotel about 12:30. In fact the day after the event I was going on a tour and forgot something in my room. When I went to get it I realized that something was different.. I had not gone to my room in the day time up till that point. For 2 days after the event I was able to see some of the Bali lifestyle.
Went to the market.. Where you need to offer 1/3 of whatever the item is marked. Had the privilege of visiting several bathrooms. OMG Pay for the toilet, ( I have a feeling any guy puts a box there and charges you) and you have to pay more for paper. The toilet usually doesn't flush and there is a bucket of water there for you to pour some into the toilet. And the floor is usually very wet from people spraying water around. I saw a sign in the airport that said.. This toilet is free. And then there was a sign in another bathroom showing how you are supposed to sit on the toilet not squat on it. In some of the department stores again I saw a huge amount of young workers in uniforms.. A driver told me they get about 120 per month to work full time.
I had lunch in a mountain resort overlooking the rice fields.. and it rained so beautifully.
All in all in all... I had a great time.. and I am really happy to be living in a place where you can count on a reasonable bathroom (other than the occasional gas station), and where you drink bottled water for fun rather than it being a must. The Bali people that I met were very sweet and soft spoken. Tony was outstanding... and I think EVA air was great though I never want to fly American Airlines again. Ill post photos as soon as I can get them off the camera.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Leaving tomorrow for Bali!

Got back from the North Carolina College tour trip with Erkki. Looked at North Carolina School of the Arts, and Elon. Tried to go see a few bead shops.. Managed to see 4, and the rest that I tried to see apparently went out of business. That is always so sad. The 4 I did visit were nice, though one of them said they were closing end of april.
We found a Whole foods that was really great. So we ate breakfast there every morning. As an added bonus there was a unique clothing store right next to it. I thought it looked like some style I would like. As I was shopping I realized... I can buy some new clothes for bali.. here. And I did!
The weather was totally perfect spring time weather, and we got to see performances at both schools. ANd on the last night there was a biker convention at the hotel were we ate so we got to listen to that all night..

So I have loaded my Ipod with lots of tapes..got a new one. When we went into the Apple store it was crowded.. I really should have bought stock years ago when I was in Chicago and realized that this apple store was totally jumping...and they are still jumping. It was a great buying experience. A young guy.. helped me and then pulled out his I Phone. I thought great now he's gonna start texting or something. Well the I Phone actually turned out to be a scanner, then a credit card machine, and then I signed my name with my finger. Totally fun experience.

But then I went to the shoe store to find some sort of sandels to wear with my new linen pants, and there I got to listen to the 2 sales people talk about how big their butts are, and how her husbands' mother needs to get a life, and so on and so forth. They actually talked a lady out of a pair of shoes... and me too espically when she called me Hon. At the end of it all she told me I could go on line and rate my experience.. Oh I will....

So I have my books on tape, first aid supplies, sun screen, shots, shoes, map of LAX air port, passport, camera, plug adaptors, & a new outfit, and I am ready for my 37 hours of travel..

Stand by for some some photos.

till we talk again.. gp