Blogs from Balian, Bali, Indonesia, Asia

Wednesday, 28th, at sea. Darwin is a few hundred Ks behind us now and we have a calm sea with an ‘oily swell’ which means two things to sailors, one, it is a sea that can bring on sea sickness and two, a warning of storms. Sure enough, the rain has started and the weather is getting turbulent, hence the saying the ‘calm before the storm’. I am convinced that the Internet manager for Carnival Cruises is called Ned Kelly. You can’t get a signal but theirs on board, they block all others and charge like Australian bushrangers. You can buy blocks of time, I purchased 150 minutes for $75. Sounds good eh ? After they had finished stuffing me around with the clock ticking I finally got to send an email , but it ended ... read more

I just wrote a really long blog entry, but it was all deleted accidentally. Arg. So I'm going to write a more condensed version of what I wrote.... enjoy! I was fortunate to be here to experience Nyepee, New Years day in the Balinese calendar. It is a quiet day where no one is to leave their houses, no electricity is allowed, they fast all day and it is meant to be a contemplative and meditative day. They prepare for Nyepee for days. It's a huge holiday. The idea is to get rid of the evil spirits before the new year so they can start fresh. A few days before Nyepee, they each go to the beach wearing traditional Balinese clothing, wash their hands and face in the water, give an offering, say a blessing and ... read more

Ok, even I have to admit that joke was lame. I still don't care. Why? Because I'm in Bali. I don't have much time, but I just wanted to let everyone know I made it to my yoga training as scheduled. I'm already planning in my head what I'm going to leave behind to make room for all the cool souvenirs in my bag. I've only had 2 days of the training so far. It's not really that "hard" yet, but the heat intensifies everything. We meditate for half an hour in morning which is quite the challenge. Thinking of nothing is quite the concept to wrap my head around. Always has been. Then we do an hour and a half of yoga. It's all typical vinyasa flow so far, except i'm slipping around near the ... read more

“Twenty five years man. I’ve seen a lot of change.” I looked across at Jack, Jack the Hawaiian, Jack the man—my idol. “Bali is beautiful to this day, but 25 years ago it was a land of mystery. And before than… I can only imagine.” “So what’s changed?” I asked, forking a slice of banana pancake into my mouth. The fruity syrup hit my taste buds with explosive rapture. Across the table from Laura and me, Jack hovered over an unshelled egg. With a thrust of his spoon he chopped the globule in half. I expected it to ooze a sinewy clear fluid and mix its yellow severed yolk, but instead his shiny metallic weapon of choice proved breakfast to be hardboiled. Underneath Jack’s massive shoulders and large Neolithic head, the egg looked like a small ... read more