1-22-2011

Last day. Packing, packing, packing. A friend of a friend of Lina’s had given her some things to bring to the US for their friend. One large bag contained an unlabelled plant leaf, and another some unlabelled mushrooms both of which were supposed to be “medicine”. “Medicinal mushrooms”? Wonder if that will get any special attention at customs. We know that all plants and fruits etc are not allowed so we did not bring them. I did not want to star in my own personal “Midnight Express”.

I spent some time with Edu teaching him about his new laptop. The entire Manik family came to visit today. Lots of cooking in the kitchen while we packed. Our flight was at 10PM or so. We left for the airport around 5 and had dinner with the entire family at the A&W there.

The flight back was good but as soon as we got off the plane in DC we wanted to return to Jakarta. Too cold here. It was 24 degrees when we arrived. It was 86 when we left Jakarta. Already planning our next trip…

1-21-2011

Today was a little slow. We met with Penny’s mom in the morning. She gave us a very nice gift of a decorative miniature bicycle. It actually made the trip home in one piece and is now displayed in the dining room. We went back to the Plaza Ambassador for lunch. We looked for a baby sling for our friend but could not find one. We were told they could only be gotten if we called and they mailed one to us from Bandung. We went to a tailor who measured Lina and took the clothe she bought with Retta. He will create a kabaya (dress) for Lina that her brother will mail to us later.

1-20-2011

Took a morning swim at one of the hotel pools with Lina and Jojo. Afterward Lina went shopping with Jojo while I moved down to the larger pool to work on my tan and have an ice cold beverage. At noon the mosques started their call to worship. It is surreal to be enjoying the sun and pool while hearing “AllooOOooOOoo Akbarrrrrrrrrrrrr” in the background. Pretty cool though. After spending a couple hours relaxing I changed and took a taxi to Monas. Monas is the national monument in the middle of Jakarta. Just like our last visit I arrived 10 minutes after they closed the central monument so I could not get to the top – again. I talked with a couple guys there and then decided to take a Bajaj back to the hotel. A bajaj is a motorized 3 wheel contraption popular in India and used a lot in Jakarta. They belch a lot of smoke but this one was pretty clean.

The driver tried to charge me 2 times the price that the taxi did. I haggled down to less than the taxi ride. It started to rain a little when we left. He took all of these great wild back alleys and streets to get to the hotel. However, he got lost and could not find the hotel. He kept saying it is ‘there’ and pointing but I told him we were not near the hotel. He drove for another few miles before admitting he was lost and flagging down a ojek driver (motorcycle taxi). They spoke and the driver came back to tell me the ojek would take me home. He accepted half what we agreed to. I got on the ojek, put on the helmet and while we rode I realized this guy did not understand which hotel either. Evidently there are two “Rasunas” in Jakarta. They only knew one of them – not mine which was Aston Rasuna. Finally I recognized where we were and I pointed to the hotel in the distance on my right and told him “desini” (here). He kept saying that he knew where he was going and “do not worry, it is okay”. He went past the area and I realized he was not looking for a place to turn around. I actually took a left and stopped next to another ojek driver who he asked about the Rasuna. The guy took one look at me and smiled. My driver said he was looking for Rasuna and pointed in front, I interrupted saying “sebentar” (wait), then said I wanted Aston Rasuna. The old dude knew exactly where it was. He pointed back where I had said to go before. Then gave instructions how to get there. I thanked the guy and said good bye in Indo. We circled around and my driver got us on Jalan Rasuna Said and he seemed ready to pass by the driveway to the hotel. I started yelling at him “Kiri, kiri, kiri” (left, left, left) which made him laugh. In fact another ojek driver on the curb laughed too saying “boolay”. I directed him to the ‘putih’ (white) building. He dropped me in front of the hotel and I tipped him very well. Despite the adventure of getting lost, I love taking the ojeks. It is fast, moves better in traffic and is just plain fun.

I arrived back just in time to leave for dinner with “the ladies”. All of Lina’s friends were joining us for dinner across the street at the Epicenter. My nieces Juli and Helen were there along with Retta and Ellyda. Despite being the only man there I had a lot of fun.

1-19-2011

Had breakfast in the hotel since it is included in the bill. Not sure if I mentioned it before but the hotel has changed a lot since the last visit. Last time the place was nearly vacant. Now it is filled with college students and Indian business men. The breakfast buffet is very large but getting a table is hard no matter when we get there.

Spent day with Jonathan who is 8 years old. We went shopping at the Plaza Ambassador for shoes, batik shirts and cell phone batteries. Ate lunch at the food court inside. In the evening before dinner we met Lina’s best friend Retta at a clothier shop. They spent nearly an hour looking over textiles deciding which they wanted. I sat in a chair evidently meant for bored men while the staff gave me lemonade and asked constantly if I wanted anything. I listened to the Indian rap music on the PA while facebooking and playing golf on my blackberry. We went to dinner with Retta at a nice restaurant that had a great sign in the restroom: “Please do not throw your cigarette butts on the floor, the cockroaches are getting cancer”.

1-18-2011

Woke very early. Our flight was at 1PM but since it takes over 4 hours to get to the airport we had to leave by 7:30AM at the latest. We managed to leave by 8. We had our last breakfast and checked out. The same driver took us to Denpasar. Traffic in Denpasar at 11 was pretty heavy. We made it in time and had lunch at the airport. Arrived in Jakarta around 3 and checked back in to the Aston Rasuna in Jakarta. Demson, Jessica, Jonathan and Jeremy joined us. We went to Freddy’s house for dinner. It took a long time (nearly 2 hours) due to our going at rush hour. Freddy’s daughter Felice played the piano for us. She is a teenager and very talented. Felice played a piece from the Nutcracker very well. She speaks English nearly flawlessly. I learned later that she taught herself English – no text books no classes. She plans to be a doctor which is appropriate based on how bright she is.

1-17-2011

We had made reservations to go snorkeling today. However, when we arrived at the dive shack they told us that it was cancelled because the visibility was not good due to the storms lately. I rented a mask and flippers and went diving right off the beach while Lina watched from the beach. It was amazing. It was very clear and the coral was very colorful. This was the first time I have ever snorkeled in a tropical area. As kids we snorkeled in New England but the colors there are mostly shades of black with the occasional green from some gross seaweed. Here it is all day glow greens, pinks, blues and yellows. The coral itself is all different shapes and colors. Some look like just rocks, others like brains, others trees, others mushrooms etc. Among the coral is a lot of fish. They are very interesting too and colorful. Felt like I was watching “Finding Nemo”. There are orange clownfish (only fish name I knew), yellow, blue and green fish. Even little translucent ones that swam by in a school. There were these bright day glow blue starfish in a couple of places that were bigger than my hand. I spent more than 2 hours getting wrinkly. I could have stayed all day. Lina made a friend on the beach, a dog that seemed to want to protect her.
We hired a driver to take us to Lovina for lunch and shopping for tourist crap. We called the same guy who picked us up from the airport. He was working on his farm when we called but he showed up a couple hours later as agreed. The ride to Lovina was nice. Lovina is the largest town on the north coast and filled with hotels, restaurants and tourist stuff. The driver chose the Hotel Damai for us to eat at. This hotel was one of the ones we looked at before deciding on Amertha. It is nestled up in the hills in the jungle with a view of the ocean about 2 miles away. It is very posh. It seems to be catering to and used by Europeans. It has a Bavarian feel to the place with exposed beams and heavy wooden doors. The view of the valley rolling down to the sea was gorgeous. The food was excellent. The staff was unfriendly, felt like I was in Paris with snooty waiters again – but without the dog seeds on the sidewalks.

I took a picture of a stone carving that is part of the building and which is visible in the restaurant of a swastika. I could not figure out why a place that caters to Europeans would have a swastika carved in stone. Listening to some of the restaurant diners talking I learned that “European” was mostly “German”. Still though it is odd. I figure either the swastika is something the Balinese are familiar with and not bothered by – like the Hawaiian pineapple company who used it pre-WWII; or it has been here since before WWII and never removed. Or maybe Mengele owns the place and takes a daily dip in the pool.

After lunch we shopped in a couple of tourist dives before heading to the Banjar Hot Springs (Banjar Air Panas) on the way back toward the hotel. In rained lightly in the afternoon but the hot springs were great. You walk over a bridge to pay the 20 cents entrance fee after passing a thousand towel stores on the way in. Turning a corner you see the top pool of two very large pools that are fed by water pouring out of the mouths of stone dragon heads on the walls. The top pool is hot, the lower pool is slightly cooler. Lina changed in the dressing room while I just jumped in (with swim trunks on – signs say nudity is prohibited). The water smells slightly of minerals I could not identify. The force of the hot water hitting you in the upper pool was like a light massage. The lower pool has the dragon heads up higher on the wall so it was more forceful. In a separate lower pool on the right there are about 6 spouts very high on the wall that beat you when it hits your body. I was quizzed there by a group of local boys. They asked me where I was from “Mister”, I answered in Indonesian which made them all laugh and start asking more questions. Lina and I spent a lot of time in the upper pools before showering to go. The place had many locals. The boolay who were there seemed to be mostly European or Russian hippies or backpackers.

1-16-2011

Started this sunny morning with a swim before going to breakfast. The fisherman was there again just off the beach. I went swimming after breakfast. About 5 yards into the water there is a band of dead coral bits about 10 feet wide. This was very painful for me to walk on with my soft American feet. We walked down the beach to the right toward the fishing village. It is small and nestled between our hotel complex and the next one. About 8 Palm huts lined the beach where the fishing boats are moored. These boats are hand made and although they look unseaworthy, in fact they are quite strong. Chickens wander the beach along with children and dogs. Lina spoke with a woman who owned a small toko. We bought some Selak and bananas there and ate some selak while we talked. Lina learned all about how the area had changed and rumors of how it would change once the airport was finished.

After lunch we set up our towels on the beach side chairs. We rented a kayak from the hotel and spent about an hour paddling and floating around off shore. The water is so clear we can see the coral and some of the fish from the boat. Interesting view of the shore with the mountains behind it from here. We returned to the beach and spent 2 hours relaxing on the beach chairs. I ordered a cold beverage from the restaurant to wash down one of the bananas we bought earlier and enjoyed watching fishing boats sailing. I could see thunder clouds far out at sea but they were not moving toward us. Lina slept.

Later in the afternoon we went for a long walk down the road to shop. Not many tourist shops here but we managed to find some sarongs and a wood carving shop. We passed under a stone gateway to Pemutaran that had ornate statues of dragons and Balinese designs on it. After about a mile or so we turned around and walked back to the gateway and had a drink and fried bananas at a small restaurant. This place was made entirely of large bamboo pillars and a palm frond roof. The sides have waist high walls with large open windows. It was next to a farmer’s field where a cow was eating grass. The cow gave me the creeps. She kept giving me the evil eye. She would be eating then turn totally around to look right at me for a few seconds before going back to eating, then doing it all over again. I decided against having the Prime Rib and stuck with the pisang goreng. Lot of flies in the restaurant, naturally because it is practically in a farm.

On way back to room we spoke with our neighbor Jon. Jon owns the villa he is in and told us that each of the villas is privately owned and the “hotel” maintains them and rents them out for the owners. Jon bought his place 5 years ago before they built it. He said the place was exactly like the land behind the fishing village – a farm field complete with goats, sheep and cows.

The fishermen had caught some tuna today so the restaurant special was grilled tuna with a fruity sambal sauce. This was fantastic. Then off to bed to fall asleep watching Australian rugby.

1-15-2011

Before I continue, I need to apologize for not finishing this earlier. However, during the last 2 weeks in Indonesia I was way too busy to write and post a blog entry. I have been told that at least one person wanted me to finish it so I will now that I have some time.

Breakfast this morning was at a beach side table. We woke and went swimming in our private pool before showering and heading for breakfast. At the table we can look back toward the villas and see the mountains rising behind them. While we ate fresh fruit we watched a fisherman wading about 50 yards off the beach wearing a conical asian hat. There was family swimming who were from Russia. We can see the fishing boats moored just off the beach in front of the village huts on the right hand side. Dive boats left the dive shack to our left.

I got a real feeling of being away from it all here. This part of Bali is rural and about 1 hour from the nearest “city” which is Lovina. Today was a slow day of relaxation. We walked around the complex and the neighborhood to get a feel for the place. We shopped at a local toko (store) which sold EVERYTHING. We bought bug bite salve since I have been bitten about 30 times (33, I counted the bites) since we arrived in Lombok. I was worried about my not taking the Malaria pills, but not too worried. After lunch we both went to the spa and had an hour long massage. After that I was totally useless so we took a nap on the gazebo with the mosquito netting down. Very nice. Took a swim after waking up and before leaving for dinner. We got to dinner about 9 which is a little late and none of the other guests were there. We used the flashlight we bought at the EVERYTHING store to see the dimly (romantically) lit path to the restaurant. The staff had replaced the normal Balinese music on the PA with reggae. It felt surreal.

1/14/11 – Flight to Denpasar took 20 minutes. Driver from hotel met us at airport. He informed us that it is not a 2 hour drive to the hotel but 4. I was suffering from Garuda’s Revenge this morning so the additional ride gave me time to feel better. The higher into the mountains and the cooler it got the better I got. Had lunch on the way at the Bali Jegeg restaurant, high in the mountains overlooking the north coast. This is a cool place with a great view and excellent food. I had Soto Ayam as did Lina.

The Amertha Bali Villas hotel is amazing. We arrived and a bellman with a cart takes our luggage. After checking in we are led to our 2 bedroom villa with private pool. It has an outdoor kitchen area and dining room near the pool. Above these rooms is the second story living room area which includes a nice bed as well. There is a koi pond right in front of the villa and one in the bathroom. The bathroom has an outdoor shower and enormous tub. We can hear the waves from our villa and the beach is about 25 yards away. This place is fantastic. We had dinner at the hotel (not much else around) and I had Ayam Rambutan which is a sweet and spicy chicken dish and Lina had the Balinese fish.

Tomorrow we may snorkel or just lay around using the spa etc. We will make plans to sightsee later.

1-13-11 – Touristas in Senggigi: Today we shopped for usual tourist stuff like Tshirts and pearls. Had a drink in the afternoon at Café Alberto. The weather has not given us any sunsets so we could not take Dewi’s recommendation to have drinks there at dusk. A nice restaurant complete with a barside pool on the beach. Ate lunch at the Yessy café and had the Ayam Bakar which was spicy.