We're home

26 hours and a lot of bad plane food later. And found this lovely message on our dining room table.

Hong Kong Dollars

Hong Kong. Here we are. And all I seem to be able to do the entire time I am here is hum “Magnificent Seven” by the Clash.

Gets you up and gets you out
But how long can you keep it up?
Gimme honda, gimme sony
So cheap and real phony
Hong kong dollars and indian cents
English pounds and eskimo pence

This place is moving. There is a lot going on and most of it involves making money. Be it selling luxury brands to foreigners or cheap veggies to locals. Commerce is everywhere. Hong Kong dollars are changing hands.

It’s a weird place. (And to be clear, I’m OK with weird.) It’s not China and it’s not the UK. It’s kind of lost somewhere in the middle. Only, it’s not in the middle like the median, it’s like the mean. Wait, is that what I actually mean? (pun totally intended). There are parts that are 100% China and then there are parts that are 100% UK (or at least 100% western). There aren’t so many parts that truly feel like both at once. So, on average, you may feel like you’re somewhere that’s kind of Asian and kind of Western, but only because you see both extremes in 1 day.

Things that I notice that are different in Hong Kong from Beijing and Shanghai:

• I regularly feel under-dressed
• HK is first city on this trip where it feels like the local Chinese are at a disadvantage to the expats
• Drivers abide the law (corollary: I no longer live in fear)
• Nature is everywhere
• People speak English (another corollary: I feel less like a dolt for speaking no words of the local language)

Some highlights of our time here:

• Cliché, but true, taking the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbor is awesome (as are the views from the bar at the Peninsula hotel)



• Walking back down from the Peak through the rain forests… this city makes no sense, it’s built on an out-cropping of rock that is covered in jungle. But, hey, who am I to judge?



• Wandering through crazy markets, day and night



• The busy streets of Hong Kong (really make you feel like you’re in a movie)



• Watching the Wimbledon men’s final in a tiny sports bar at 1 AM

And one lowlight: Walking down the very busy, very touristy Nathan Street in Kwoloon (a district of HK) and being asked about every 5 seconds if I wanted to buy a “rolex” or get a custom suit made or buy some “luxury goods.” Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I ended up practically running down the street shouting “no!” at anyone that even looked at me. I am not cut out for this stuff. Maybe it’s time to go home….

Back to the amazing city of Shanghai

What is it with China? As amazing as this country has turned out to be (and that’s pretty damn amazing, let’s be clear), there are some old, almost Kafka-esque habits that die hard and are driving me c-c-c-crazy. Like you can’t take pictures… anywhere. I’m not just talking about “please don’t take flash pictures of our priceless heritage relics in the form of paintings” … I get that. I’m talking about being yelled at for taking pictures in all of the following venues: the residence of a Chinese hero from the outside, a new major architecture project (again from the outside; a place that should be screaming for publicity), a restaurant, a store where we wanted to take pictures of something we were considering buying… you get the idea. Drives me wacky.

Anyway, had to get that off my chest. Now back to the amazing city of Shanghai.

I left you last as we were on our way to an acrobatic show with our new friends, Linda and Wuan. It was quite a show. Imagine people doing things that make you applaud in awe recoil in disgust at the same time. I mean, seriously, are bodies meant to do that? I don’t think so. But the fact that they can spin about 20 plates at a time while walking across other folks heads is pretty impressive.


We followed that up with dinner at a crazy “hot pot” restaurant (yes, it is literally a pot of hot stuff (both in temperature and spice level) that you throw things in to cook): think “fondue” but with way less 1970s décor. The restaurant was on the 7th floor of an ugly building. We never would have found it and never would have been able to order if it weren’t for Linda and Wuan. We ate like kings and drank big bottles of local beer. Yummm….



Our last day in Shanghai was a marathon. Really felt like we short-changed this city by only giving it 3 days, so we took the last day very seriously… too seriously, perhaps, as we collapsed in exhaustion at 10 PM. Here’s a run-down:

• We started at the most complete “classical Chinese gardens” in the country, Yu Yuan, which we decided reminded us of the temples in Beijing (all things imperial are starting to run together here) … so we were in and out in about 20 minutes. At this point, I again start to wonder if I’m there’s a cultural desert in my soul.
  
  (yep, looks like imperial architecture to me...)
  
• We then ran to the other side of the Huang Pu River to get a view from the tallest building in Shanghai. Which has a glass-bottomed observatory on the 100th floor. Amazing views combined with a teeeeeny bit of vertigo.
• Had a coffee in a beautiful old café deep in an office building on the Bund (yes, you can get to the buildings if you risk your life to cross a construction area). (It was shortly after this that I got yelled at for taking photos of a tile mural on the floor of a bank lobby … clearly a risk for state security)
• Jumped in a taxi to visit Shanghai’s self-proclaimed “cultural street.” Note to self: may not be good idea to take Chinese government at their word about what is and what is not a cultural street. This one was quite dull and even our key destination, the famous film café – where you can watch old B&W movies from Shanghai and sit on big red velvet couches, was basically closed as it was being used for a model shoot. Sounds sexy as I write it down. But it wasn’t. It just meant that there was no where to sit and no one wanted to serve us non-models a drink.
• So we headed back downtown to the People’s Square (which indeed did have a lot of people in it) and the fantastic Museum of Urban Planning, where they had an enormous model of what Shanghai will look like in 2020. Let me just say this: it’s enormous. We have nothing that even comes close in the US or Europe. And this is just one of their many, many major cities.
  
• To end our Shanghai experience we had reservations at a famous restaurant, Fu 1088, in an old mansion in the French Concession (we can walk from our hotel). Every table has its own room, we were told. We imagined we’d be dining in the old library, with candlelight and silk wallpaper. How romantic, we thought. Well, as just about everything in China thus far, it was different than we had imagined. Not worse, just different. Yes, we were alone in a room. But the room was huge and it was between the reception and the kitchen, so folks were walking through it constantly and the noise and smells from the kitchen filled it. The lights were bright and there were no candles to be seen. At first, we both winced a bit at it all. But then our own personal piano player (yep, just him, us and the kitchen staff) started to play - he was amazing – and we fell into the mood. We drank a bottle of wine from their extensive wine list (for China that means more than 2 bottles, 1 red and 1 white) and said goodbye to Shanghai.

Beware: trendy, hip, modern, new

Welcome to Shanghai. The beautiful city. The people are beautiful; the clothes are beautiful; the buildings are beautiful. But beware: if the guidebook says a street, a restaurant, a café or a bar is either trendy, hip, modern or new… you should avoid it. What they really mean is “it looks exactly like home and probably is next to a Starbucks so you don’t actually need to go there because once you get there you won’t even know you’re in China anymore.” I’ve already made the mistake twice since we got here (all of yesterday). I thought “new” and “hip” meant I’d see the cutting-edge side of Shanghai. Turns out that nothing avant-guard comes out of guidebooks. Right. Probably should have guessed that….

So… Shanghai. What can I tell you? If Beijing is Rome, Shanghai is Florence. If Beijing is London, Shanghai is Paris. That is, if 80% of the major monuments of Florence and Paris were under major construction at the same time. As it turns out, the World Expo is coming to Shanghai in 2010, and as you may remember from the last Olympics, the Chinese take their “preparing to host world events” really damn seriously. So our “romantic stroll along the Bund” (the riverside park that is lined with amazing art deco architecture … or so we’re told) became “watch out for that jack hammer! Woah, there is no sidewalk here and that dump truck is backing up! Is that a pretty building under that scaffolding? Is there a river behind that 20 foot wall?”

"Ahhhh, the Bund....."

And just as I was cursing all things Shanghai, a young Chinese couple asked me to take a picture of them (Really? In front of this crane? OK…). We started to chat. Turns out she’s an English teacher. They’re from Tsing Tao (a city of 5 million … not just a beer!). They took us to an amazing tea house for a traditional tea ceremony. I saw tea do things I never thought possible. Many of the teas we had were hand-rolled: little tiny globes that were pieces of individual tea leaves rolled with other herbs or flowers inside. One of the teas we tried was a flower that had been hand-stuffed with other flowers and then sealed shut. When you added hot water it “bloomed” and 5 other type of flowers floated out of it. Amazing. Gone are the days that I felt chic ordering peppermint tea. That’s just so … basic.

Today I strolled around the French Concession (the part of the city that the Qing Empire – the last empire of China – “conceded” to France, as the Empire was weak and corrupt and need the money from the rents). It was hot and humid. Oh, yes, and beautiful. For a minute, I felt like I was in the Village in New York. And then I saw a woman pluck, gut and butcher a chicken in about 1 minute flat on the sidewalk. Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.

(Tango lessons in a park in the French Consession, Shanghai)

Tonight we’re off to an acrobat show and Chinese dinner with our new friends. Who needs monuments?


Oh, and just for the record.... it still looks pretty great at night, despite all the construction.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves on this one...

I will only say that we were almost entirely alone; we saw maybe 10 people during our entire 4-hour walk. Consider me speechless...

For all the pictures and their sometimes witty captions you can go here:
http://www2.snapfish.co.uk/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1351141014/a=120329527_120329527/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfishuk/

The Soundtrack of China

Ggggggghhhhhhhhhhhaaaacccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhhh. Yep, that’s it. Old men and old women do it. No surprise there. Well-dressed businessmen do it – slightly more shocking. Teenagers do it; but you can write that off as “going for shock value.” But when a well-dressed woman in her 30’s does it as she bikes past you, you may start to worry. Yep, everyone does it here. It’s a cliché, but it’s true. Clearing your throat with more vigor than can actually be healthy. And then spitting it out on the street. The soundtrack of China.

OK, enough of that. China and is clearly different. But almost entirely in ways that do not gross me out. Let me share you some of the highlights of the last few days:

• Hotel: We moved to our fantastic new hotel which is built around a small courtyard and is on a small hutong (back alley). (Thanks, Amanda, for the tip!) It used to be a prince’s house; our very tiny (but also very cute) room was clearly servant’s quarters (or maybe the lowest concubine’s room). We feel much more part of the “real China” now that we’re here. The Peninsula was nice, but, seriously, I could order a burger and fries at 3 AM. That just ain’t right.


• Art: Our visit to Art District 798: a huge old eastern German factory (yep, the communists stuck together … well, until they didn’t anymore) that has been transformed into a huge complex for contemporary Chinese art. It used to be affordable studios, but it’s now hip, so rents have risen and the artists had to leave and their studios have been transformed into galleries. If I were much cooler than I am that would mean I should write this place off as “too commercial” and seek the new avant-garde setting. But I was impressed and we saw some great art (and some hilariously bad art). We might even buy a piece by Hong Hao from his “My things” series (below).
  
  We’re in negotiations. I told Jacco we’ll have to buy a big house just so it fits all of our art. He told me that wasn’t thinking green. Clearly one of life’s more difficult dilemmas.
  
• Architecture: we visited the Egg, Beijing’s new opera house and theater. Yes, it belongs to the Beijing that is clearly there to impress the world, so it’s huge and , but it’s also beautiful. They were showing off their performers, so there were little bits of operas being sung throughout the building. It gave me chills. And I always expect big voices to come from big people, but these singers were petite and belting it out like true divas.
  
  (This is Jacco touching one of the gargantuan doors that enter a theater.) We were so taken by it all that we’re planning to spend Tuesday checking out the new and amazing buildings of Beijing. Who needs more temples?


• Out: Amanda’s friend Jan lives in Beijing (her second amazing tip for this trip, for those of you that are counting) and is a DJ. He invited us to hear him play at Punk, it is in a chic boutique hotel and was voted one of the best new bars in Beijing by the local equivalent of New York Magazine. First impression: there is nothing punk about Punk (it is completely void of rough edges and I’m fairly sure you wouldn’t be allowed in with a flannel shirt and Doc Martens). Second impression: boutique hotel lounge bars are the McDonalds of young, hip, incomed travelers: they look the same anywhere in the world and you always get the same thing (good drinks, good music, and as many foreigners as locals). Third impression (and third drink): this place rocks. Jan played a great set, almost entirely made-up of remixed Michael Jackson tunes as a tribute to the King of Pop. We danced and drank and slunk home around 3 AM.


• Food: We are eating everything, Chinese or not. We had an amazing Vietnamese meal on a rooftop where the French owner ignored us and only attended to his many French guests. Our Chinese waiter was so kind we decided to ignore the slight. We ordered blindly at a little hutong meal and got food for at least 10 people (oops) for under $10 total. It was HOT (those green things you see are not bell peppers but hot peppers)
  
  This morning (OK, OK, afternoon) we had dim sum as hangover helper after our night out at Punk.

Most disturbing thing I’ve seen since I got here:
We were biking along Tiananmen Square and stopped to take some photos when I heard a woman screaming (the photo below was clearly taken before I heard her screaming, but you can see her in the background). She was half-naked (the not the half you’d expect) and holding a large knife to her neck while she screamed. The security guards – always on hand and apparently useless – stood by and did nothing besides yelling at here. Finally, a few citizens (or plain-clothed police?) jumped on her and there was a long, loud, frightening struggle. They got the knife a way from her, but then dragged her to a police truck kicking and screaming and threw her in. Will she get psychological help? Or just get locked up? Unclear. But this was desperate woman and there’s a deeper story there….

My new questions about China:

• Is it sacrilege to say “if you’ve seen one imperial palace/temple, you’ve seen them all”? After visiting the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven, if decided I’ve seen enough. Does that make me a bad person?
• Is it illegal to have a gas/petrol scooter here? They are all electric! And if it’s so easy to make them electric, why hasn’t the west adopted the same policy?

And here are the latest photos:

Day 1 and 2: http://www2.snapfish.co.uk/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1295310014/a=120329527_120329527/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfishuk/

Day 3-5:

http://www2.snapfish.co.uk/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1328986014/a=120329527_120329527/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfishuk/

Ch-ch-ch changes

So, Bali was the laid-back place where nothing had to happen fast and it was all about relaxation. Beijing is not. Bali was the place where I had the time (and energy left over at the end of the day) to write long blog entries, which I liked to think had some humor and some small insights. Beijing is not.

Here in Beijing you’re going to get short phrases, questions and quick impressions. It’s too hot, too crowded and too busy for more. Hopefully, you’ll still get some sense of what it’s like here. It is amazing. But it is different.

Tuesday

• We arrive: tired and dirty and check into our fancy western hotel (for our first 3 days here, then we’ll move to our “real” Beijing hotel)
• 3 hours later: clean and rested
• Visit to the 15th century Drum and Bell towers: big and impressive
• Wander through the “hutongs”(back alley neighborhood) of Beijing


• Question arises: why are there so many free public toilets in Beijing? Ahh, not everyone has a toilet at home. Actually a godsend for wandering tourists like us (yes, they’re more or less clean)
• Discovery of the day: Beijing has a ton of awesome bars (hidden in courtyards, perched on rooftops), who knew? We enjoyed 2 of them on our first night in town (here's one in the photo)


• Walked home (not to self: it’s a big city)

Wednesday

• Followed the “good tourist” plan: 5 morning hours at the Forbidden City with our guide (hired on the spot), Li Ling
• Impressions of the Forbidden City: it’s big and it’s hot; it’s red and it’s gold; it was no fun to be a commoner during imperial times (not allowed into the Forbidden City, not even allowed to watch – had to bolt their windows and stay inside! - if the Emperor and his court paraded out of the Forbidden City to have a ceremony at another temple); there are enough tales of love and intrigue from imperial China to make at least 9999 amazing movies
• Met the nephew of the last Emperor of China, who now sells calligraphy to help raise funds to maintain the Forbidden City (we bought the symbol for “harmony,” which he drew forus on the spot, and were so impressed by it that we assume that if we wave it over the middle-east as we fly home, that all will be well in the world)


• Lunch in the LES (lower east side) of Beijing
• Rest in our cool hotel room
• Walked to Tiananmen Square for Sunset: as it turns out, the square closes at sunset


• Question of the day: How do you close a public square the size of 61 football fields with no actual gates or fences around it? Answer: you employ a whole hell of a lot of Chinese soldiers…
• Discovery of the day: there are 2 Beijings (OK, probably there are 10, but we have only seen 2 thus far). The crazy “red army” Beijing full of imposing buildings, huge squares, and general pomp that certainly intimidates the masses and the “everyman’s Beijing” of the hutongs, where folks just hang out in the evenings in front of their small homes, playing games, drinking beer and chatting with the neighbors. Wish I spoke more than zero words of Chinese so I could join them for a beer…

Thursday

• Rented bikes: hello, freedom!
• Visited 2 temples: one Buddhist (Lama) and one Confucian
• Impressions of the Lama Temple: The power that be are trying really hard to show that they are tolerant (or even more, large supporters) of Buddhism, even in its Tibetan form. The temple is amazingly well-kept and there’s even a (state-sponsored?) monk or two running around. I don’t trust it a bit, but maybe I’m a cynic. Let’s just say that the Dalai Lama has not recently been invited to teach at this “tibetan buddhist” temple. Hmmmmm… (testing the censors with this one)
• Question of the day: Are the majority Chinese faithful Buddhists (they all bowed 3 times in front of all the Buddhas in the Lama Temple)? And if so, how did they practice their religion during the “godless” years of communism? I have no answers yet, but will seek them as I go…
• Impressions of the Confucian Temple: unclear to me if Confucianism is a religion or a philosophy; calligraphy on stone is amazing, difficult and beautiful (you try carving brush stokes on marble…)


• Biked through the hutongs some more, had a lunch at a French-owned café (good bread!) and crashed in a pile of sweat and fatigue along the lake at Beihai Park
• What I learned about Beijing parks: the minus points -- you have to pay to enter them (all the ones I can find, at least) and there are no big grass lawns to lie on – and the plus points – they are gorgeously landscaped and full of crazy chinese buildings
• Crashing in hotel room now. Jacco has to work. I can write a blog…
• Tonight, Peking duck!

Last photos from Bali (China posting coming soon!)

http://www2.snapfish.co.uk/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1280335014/a=120329527_120329527/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfishuk/

Sad (and very quick) goodbyes

It wasn’t exactly as we’d planned. Erika and I were going to fly to Kuala Lumpur together and then she would head off to Amsterdam and I would go to Beijing. We were supposed to have 2 hours together in Kuala Lumpur – to reminisce, to get a drink, to bring a bit of closure to an amazing 2 weeks in Bali. As it turned out, though, our flight out of Bali was delayed and Erika had to run to her gate. “See you soon! It was great! So glad we could do this together!”… and she was gone. And this trip that we’d been looking forward to for months and months was suddenly over. But it had given us so much. And our last couple of days had brought some of our favorite memories. Amazing memories.

On Sunday we hired a driver (the remarkable Tin, who has taught himself English over the last 1 ½ years, has a great sense of humor and loves to learn new slang and sayings along the way). He drove us first to Tengenan, one of the original Balinese villages – where we could see the traditional layout of a village. From there, we took the most amazing walk of our trip, through foothills and steeply terraced rice paddies. We could see 180 degrees of mountains and the expansive sea in the other direction. The greens were shades you almost couldn’t believe existed in nature; and certainly not so many next to each other.

Along the way we stopped and bought water and bananas from a little family-run warung (like a food-stand) at the top of a hill along the path we were following. The mother brought us the bananas, the young daughter (maybe 9 or so?) continued her weaving and the father played a traditional Balinese instrument that looks like a xylophone to me. Our view was astounding and we were speechless.

After about 2.5 hours of walking we found Tin again in a local village and he drove us on to Tirtagangga (which literally means “holy water of the ganges”) – a royal water palace, built by the former king of the province (Bali is no longer a kingdom, so the village now owns and maintains the palace). Astounding. We were even allowed to swim in the royal pool. Floating on our backs, finally cool after a hot and humid hike, looking up at the amazing temple architecture and enormous Banyon tree overhead, we thought perhaps we had found paradise.



Tin drove us home via his own village, where we got to briefly meet his mother and niece. And then back to Ubud and an amazing last dinner at Casa Luna, a brilliant restaurant owned by a Balinese-Australian couple, serving fantastic Indonesian food. It was getting to eat local while feeling pampered (and finding a decent glass of wine -- a difficult feat on Bali!)

Monday was our last day in Bali; we flew out early Monday evening. We decided to take it very easy. A long, leisurely breakfast and newspaper reading session. A stroll around town. A 2-hour massage, body scrub and floral bath (see below). Going out just like we came in…

I just landed in Beijing and am waiting for Jacco’s flight to arrive. Phase 2 of this amazing journey is about to begin!

Spiders and snakes and rice, oh my!

So we took a long walk outside of Ubud into the rice paddies this morning. We started early to avoid the mid-day heat, so we were out in the fields by 8 AM. It was gorgeous out there: terraced rice fields separated by narrow pathways and an occasional mini river gorge lined with banana and coconut trees.

PHOTO

It took us just over 3 hours for the roundtrip. And it would have been totally uneventful and maybe a bit shorter if: a) we hadn’t gotten lost (you may ask who can get lost in a totally open landscape like rice paddies, and I answer proudly, “we can!”) and b) we hadn’t come far too close to many a creepy, crawly beasts.

First, the creepy crawlies. We were trotting along a narrow path between paddies when a long, black snake (it was HUGE, I swear!) shot across the path in front of me. I, always a picture of calm and control, screamed “SNAKE!” and jumped back. Deep breath, keep walking. Erika didn’t see the snake and very likely doubted its existence until a couple minutes later. Another one! I, having learned much from my first serpentine encounter, screamed “SNAKE!” and jumped back. I swung around to see Erika step on the snake (not on purpose) and scream. It didn’t bite her but sped away. We’re still not sure if that was because it was a very nice snake or if Erika had just stepped directly on it’s head. Either way, we’re fairly sure there’s a very non-plussed snake out there complaining about “tourists!” to all his buddies. For those of you that don’t like cold-blooded creatures, I won’t even mention the giant spiders….

And in all that, we got lost, too. We tried to make a loop (so we wouldn’t have to come back exactly the way we went out) but our path (and I use the term loosely) got narrower and narrower and it eventually became clear it was not a path at all but just a series of rice paddy dividers that were leading nowhere in particular. Cue snakes 1 and 2. You can imagine what we might have been thinking at this point. Thank god a local woman spotted us. She took one look at 2 western girls shrieking in the middle of her rice field and said, “Ubud?” We nodded very, very eagerly. She was kind enough to show us the way back to the main path (which we never would have found ourselves). And I’m proud to report that when our THIRD snake of the day shot across her (bare) feet, slithered into a ditch full of water and started swimming next to us, that she shrieked, too. Some things are universally female, apparently.

Ok, now that I’ve sufficiently grossed or freaked you out (unless you’re better with slimy things than I am), let me share something cute and almost cuddly with you instead. Eri and I went out to an elephant rescue park yesterday (rescued from Sumatra where they are often abused and used for hard labor or party tricks) and we got to ride Petri, the senior elephant in the park at 44, who was quite naughty and kept heading off the path to grab some yummy (to her) elephant grass off of neighboring farmers’ land. There were also baby elephants. One day - when i have a faster connection - i'll post the video of them playing.

Erika is now at the Ubud market scouting potential gifts for her loved ones. My loved ones, consider yourselves warned: I don’t like markets, so all you’ll get from me is likely this silly blog.

Finally, here is the links to our photos from our last day at Surf Goddess and our first day at Ubud – including lots of elephants!http://www2.snapfish.co.uk/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1238876014/a=120329527_120329527/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfishuk/

Since we left you last...

It has been a few days. Sorry about that; we were out being amazed by Bali. We left you last after our day trip to Ubud (see last blog entry). So much has happened in between. But let me summarize the basics like this: sleep, yoga, surf, eat, beach, chill, repeat. Good, that’s covered, so now I can only focus on the extraordinary events of the last couple days: our pilgrimage to Ulu Watu and our last day at the Surf Goddess Retreat (I’m sure you feel our pain!).

Ulu Watu:

Have you ever been feeling pretty darn good about yourself only to be swiftly and slightly painfully reminded that you’re a mere mortal? You know, thinking, “yep, I’m looking pretty hot today” and then seeing an old photo of, say, Brigitte Bardot that puts you right back in your place here on earth? Or thinking you were so clever to have just filled in the last clue on a crossword puzzle only to be reminded that some kid from Cleveland just improved on Einstein’s theory of relativity? That’s exactly how I felt when we came out to Ulu Watu to watch the real surfers. I was thinking I had started to get this surfing thing down. Ha. Ha! Watching these guys was aaaa-mazing. The waves were huge (in this very poor photo, those teeny-tiny itsy-bitsy dots are surfers. that huge blue mass behind them is the wave one of them is about to surf).

They showed no fear. I was in complete awe. They were INSIDE the waves. I wish I could take a ride on the back of their boards just to have that feeling. Must be incredible. And, honestly, the spot we had for viewing was pretty great, too. A cliff-side village of little cafes, over-looking the sea (see photos below)

We also went to a traditional Kecak dance at the Ulu Watu temple that evening. Fantastic, but you had to be there. I’ll summarize with these words – “monkey god saves the day after being almost set on fire” and these 2 photos:

And, finally, a dinner at Jimbaron Bay. Choose your own fish from the aquarium; head out to the candle-lit tables on the beach and prepare for a feast of grilled seafood and a cold beer. I feel a cliché coming on: it was the perfect end to the perfect day.

Our last day at Surf Goddess:
Yesterday was our last day at the Surf Goddess retreat. And our last surf here on Bali (as we headed out to the interior of the island). The waves were tough (very powerful and dumping instead of spilling, for those of you for which that means anything) but we all got up and rode a few last waves. We also got our amazing surfing/music videos (of ourselves in which we look like we totally know what we’re doing!) which we will be boring our future children and grand-children with for years to come. The worst part of the day was definitely the goodbyes. We had an amazing group of guides (the women that led us through our week there) and students. On our last dinner together we discussed what had made the group so special and we realized that in our little group of 6 guests, not a single person was negative. We were all excited, energized and optimistic. We all thought the other 5 women were amazing. And they were.

We arrived in Ubud last night. And gave ourselves one day to sleep in (and write in the blog). More soon. Take care of yourselves.

New pictures

Hi guys - it's late and I'm tired, so all you'll get is pictures today! More soon, though:

Day 4: Surfing
http://www2.snapfish.co.uk/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1157645014/a=120329527_120329527/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfishuk/

Day 5: Ubud (sacred monkey forest and hanging out in the cultural center of Bali)
http://www2.snapfish.co.uk/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1168991014/a=120329527_120329527/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfishuk/

Day 6: Ulu Watu (amazing surf break with pro surfers, Balinese dancers and dinner on the beach)
http://www2.snapfish.co.uk/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1204186014/a=120329527_120329527/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfishuk/

Seriously, dude, it’s not just a surfer’s paradise?

Let’s be clear: before today we hadn’t really seen any part of Bali except the southern beaches, which were developed mainly by foreigners that came here strictly to surf. Which is great if you have no interest in the actual culture or history of the island (and many don’t) and just want warm water and waves. But we were intrigued as we headed off this morning (after yoga) for a day trip to Ubud - the cultural center of Bali. Here’s some things we learned that you may or may not know:

• Bali is the only predominately Hindu island of Indonesia (roughly 70% of Indonesians are Muslim)
• This is because Bali was deemed a “safe haven” for the Hindus (Hindi?) as part of a deal which ended the warring between the various religions in Indonesia some 1000 years ago, so all the Indonesian Hindus that could manage to do so, moved to Bali
• Only the top 2 castes could actually afford to move to Bali, which helps explain the great , local focus on art and culture, as this was the main past time of the highest castes
• Balinese Hinduism is distinct from Indian Hinduism and has developed on it’s own for at least a thousand years, combining some elements of Buddhism and Animism
• It’s estimated that about 30% of the islanders’ income (and a similar proportion of the local women’s time) is spent on preparing for and participating in religious ceremonies and/or rituals

So, yes, some of us may feel like selfish jerks when we see all these people taking time out from their day (a LOT of time out) every day to thank relatives, friends, gods, ancestors, etc. for what they have. Others of us might just say things like, “whoa, cool temple.” I was admittedly a bit of both today. Our trip to Ubud was great but very short. We basically ran through the sacred monkey forest (personally, I see very little sacred about screaming, dirty monkeys that try to steal things, but I’m sure that’s my under-developed, western sense of spirituality talking), which was beautiful, lush and blissfully shaded from the Bali sun.

We tried to visit a famous healer but she was “out buying spices” and “may or may not return today.” We wandered through the huge market and decided it was too hot to barter (and thus to buy). After a quick bite at a fantastic café, it was basically time to leave. Thanks to Maureen (who encouraged us to stay a few more days and make sure to get OFF the beaches and into the middle of the island), we’ll be going back to Ubud for 4 days later this week. So we took all the hurrying in stride. We can do it all next week.

On the way back we hit rush hour on Bali. Who knew? Scooter chaos ensued. This video doesn’t even begin to capture the thousands of scooters on the road (claiming BOTH sides of it, although they were all going in one direction – away from the tourist beaches they had been working on all day). With driving like this, thank god these folk believe in reincarnation.



(Finally a note: I haven’t figured out yet how to individually reply to your comments, or I would. I read them all and am very grateful for them. Thanks for sending them and please do keep them coming!)

Surf goddesses (or so we'd like to think)

Erika (turn your computer or your head 90 degrees)

Me (with a bit less commentary)

Chill out Bali

Do you guys know the “Chill Out Ibiza”compilations? They’re CDs of lounge music that a French DJ (I believe) put together exclusively to entertain the masses of beach-goers on the island of Ibiza after a long, hard day lounging in the sun (or a long, hard night dancing in the clubs). We ended our day yesterday at a place that can only be termed “Chill out Bali” – it’s actually called Ku De Ta (and yes, they do they think they’re being smart and cheeky with the name) and it has a big grass lawn, stylish lounge chairs, fantastic views, even better people watching and an amazing soundtrack (which is, indeed, for sale). The diversity was amazing: old and young, western and asian, tshirts and shorts over wet swimsuits and party dresses with stiletto heels (still don’t know you navigate anything in bali in heels, but, hey…). We ordered a drink and waited for the sun to set. Which happened in a total of about 10 minutes (blast these speedy equatorial sunsets!). But it was beautiful and relaxed and we felt like we had much to be grateful for. And there were still plenty of people to watch after dark.

And honestly, we simply needed the rest, as yesterday was another typical day here – starting off with over 1 ½ hours of yoga, followed by a quick bite and then a couple hours of surfing. Surfing was much tougher yesterday; our short-lived illusion that this would be easy was quickly dissolved. The winds and currents were stronger and we had to paddle like madmen (madwomen, actually). If one more person tells me, “surfing is 90% paddling” I may paddle them. Wait, wait, I’m supposed to be a zen-master-following-my-bliss-at-peace yoga woman now. I won’t paddle them, no, I’ll just tell them to stop focusing on the negative.

It’s early morning in Bali now. We’ve finished yoga and breakfast and our off to surf. Wish me luck. We’re learning to turn today. Thank god, as I was very worried about the small children in the water yesterday as my board screamed by their heads. They seemed oblivious. Ignorance is bliss?

Photos from yesterday can be seen here:
http://www2.snapfish.co.uk/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1149698014/a=120329527_120329527/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfishuk/
(I promise to send some surfing photos soon; but it’s hard to take pictures when you’re out in the water…)

Bali pictures: day 1 and 2

More later, but here's pix from the first 2 days.... the 3rd day pictures are much more amazing but I can't upload them yet....

http://www2.snapfish.co.uk/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1134114014/a=120329527_120329527/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfishuk/

How many surf instructors does it take to get a girl from North Carolina up on a surfboard?

4 apparently. That’s how many we had helping us in the water today. Our first surf lesson and all 6 of us got up. It wasn’t pretty, but I’d call it surfing. Though for all of you that had painted a picture for me of stunningly gorgeous surf instructors, I’m sad to report that they’re just average looking guys. Very tan and very fit, yes. But as they’re Balinese, I’ve got at least 6 inches on all of them. Erika, on the other hand….

But forget the instructors, surfing is sexy enough all by itself. Although I only got fully up on my feet 3 times in dozens of attempts, for a grand total of about 30 seconds, it was an amazing sensation. Not sure how to describe it… Floating? Flying? Ruling the world? I may be starting to understand the addiction. Like our female surf guide: a 44 year-old Australian named Melinda. She was an executive at a major Australian fashion retailer until she was given a trip to Bali for her 40th birthday, fell in love with it and moved here permanently within the year. She’s now a full-time surf guide and hasn’t thought about high fashion ever since.

Surf lessons were followed by an amazing 2-hour spa treatment. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves (one day, when I have faster internet access, I'll send more than 1).

Finished off our day at our villa with a yoga session, a fantastic Indonesian meal and tea by the pool. It’s almost perfectly silent here in our compound. We hear rumor that there’s a bustling nightlife out there. An adventure for another day… maybe.

Twice a day, every day.

We’ve arrived. And so far the schedule is perfect, as is our Balinese villa with it’s swimming pool, open kitchen and dining area and shaded yoga studio. The first thing we did was have a one-hour in-room massage (Erika’s brilliant plan) for $7. Seven dollars. That was followed by a one-and-a-half hour yoga class that ended with us lying on our backs, wearing aromatic eye masks listening to the wind in the banana plants. For free. As I drifted in and out of consciousness, I tried to figure out what time my body thought it was; and then I realized my body was telling my mind to shut up already.

After a quick shower we met the rest of our group for orientation: 6 students (from Malaysia, Japan and LA) and 4 teachers/leaders/guides. Our schedule for the next week will basically go like this: practice yoga, eat, surf, relax, indulge in spa treatment, eat, sleep. Repeat, if desired. I believe I can handle this. Our orientation included a quick briefing on the Balinese form of Hinduism. They create hand-woven offerings for the gods twice a day, every day. This is what keeps everything in balance. I’m all for it.

My most boring entry

I promise you: this is it, my most boring entry. We’re underway but have not yet arrived at our destination. So I actually have nothing to tell you, but feel like I must write anyway, as I’ve got a bad case of, “I can’t believe this trip is actually starting, I feel the need to tell people all about it!” So this is that entry. The one where I show you photos of us at the airport and photos of the plane we just flew in. It’s also the one where I recount all the boring details and observations of the thoroughly predictable journey. Things like:

• Like if Malaysia is “truly Asia” where does that leave the rest of Asia? [this likely only makes sense if you’ve every heard Malaysia’s board of tourism ads]
• Why is there a Starbucks, Burger King and Cheers Bar at the Kuala Lumpur airport but not a single place to eat Malaysian food?
• How is it possible that one child, a quarter of my size has enough energy to jump up and down the airplane aisle for 6 hours straight, while I barely have enough energy to be annoyed by it? (And as a corollary to that: if a woman yells at a small child 35K feet in the air, does anyone hear it at sea level?)
• Why are bad movies better on tiny little airplane screens?
• How awesome is Erika for having brought a sleeping pill for me?
  

So that’s it for now, friends. I promise to offer more (more humor, cultural insight, natural beauty … something) in my next entry. From BALI.

Hold harmless

In the past, I never read the fine print. I assumed it only said things I didn't actually want to know. As it turns out, I was completely right. I definitely should have stuck with the "ignorance is bliss" approach. Yesterday, I decided to peruse the contract for the Surf Goddess Retreat before I printed it out to sign it. Bad idea. Here's what it said:

"I expressly agree and promise to accept and assume all of the risks existing in the sport of surfing, including, but not limited to ... being hit by the board (sure, fine); cuts, bruises, abrasions (no fun, but fine); hitting the bottom of the ocean (also fine), exhaustion, dehydration, sunburn (expected); exposure to carnivorous sea creatures..."

C-A-R-N-I-V-O-R-O-U-S S-E-A C-R-E-A-T-U-R-E-S. Yep, sharks. Now all I can think about is that Australian guy presenting Shark Week on the Discovery Channel and explaining how surfers look exactly like sea turtles to sharks, with their legs and arms flapping off the sides of their boards. Fantastic.

Ah, well, luckily Bali is not famous for their sharks. I mean, they're not advertised in any of the tourism literature. So there must not be any there ... right?

Needles and paperwork

Yep, that's right: needles and paperwork. That's all the "voorpret" I'm getting for my upcoming trip to Indonesia and China. (Voorpret, by the way, is a fantastic Dutch word that means something like "enjoying something before you actually get to do it" -- think of it like "foreshadowing" but then only for all the great things in your life. Gotta love that.) So anyway, instead of reading guidebooks and daydreaming about which temples I'm going to visit or which dumplings I'm going to order, I've been spending my time at the GGD (the Dutch version of the CDC) getting multiple shots and at the Chinese embassy in Den Haag, applying for our visas.

The GGD was a hilarious 3-hour process that ended with Jacco and I each getting 3 shots, against 5 illnesses in a grand total of about 7 seconds. There's definitely a bad ratio there of our time spent vs. their time spent.

And the Chinese embassy? A huge disappointment, I must say. I had steeled myself for all kinds of bureaucracy. I had images of stern Chinese men telling me I had done it all wrong and would have to come back tomorrow with the right paperwork. I had prepared for the fact that I would likely be sent from room to room without a clear reason as to why, wait in goal-unspecific lines for hours and would eventually be sent home with my tail between my legs. That's what I've been brought up to believe. What a shame to be helped by a young Chinese hipster who was fluent in English, Dutch and god knows what else, and who handled my request in all of about 30 seconds. Where is the old China, anyway?

More as we get closer to the trip.

In the meantime, anyone with must-see, must-do, must-avoid tips for Bali, Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai, or Hong Kong, please send them on through!