Bali Pictures

Okay, it's been a week already so here are some of the better pictures from Bali and the last intended update from the trip. Most are taken in and around Ubud as this was the only city we stayed in. However, we did manage fun side trips a few of the days. Ron, the guy running the studio had arranged a day cruise for us which was a lot of fun. Not knowing what exactly to expect, we quickly found it was a cruise to nowhere, also known as a "booze cruise". But how could we complain as we sailed back and forth between Sanur where the boat was anchored and the islands off the SE of Bali (Nusa Pendia, Nusa Ceningan and Nusa Lemgbongan) drinking and eating bar b que. Back and forth then back and forth again but how many times I cannot say since the main itinerary seemed to be only drinking and getting tan.

On other days we arranged more strenuous activity to amuse ourselves before heading to the glass studio. We took a bike tour from one of the volcano tops, along some back roads and though some small villages. The kids went wild when they'd spot white people on bikes riding down the road and they'd line up, sticking out their hands wanting to get slapped "five." I'll say, when you slapped one of those little kids' extended hands five you wouldn't believe how they'd spin around like a top and howl with delight! At least I hope they were exaggerating to show their excitement and that we weren't actually spinning those kids around and hurting them- they did seem to enjoy it and would try to slap every rider five. It's amazing that even on Bali, easily the top tourist destination in Indonesia by numbers alone, once you get maybe 10 miles out from even a small city like Ubud you're a major attraction and source of entertainment just because you're white and on a bike...or maybe it's just that you look so out of place and sticking out you become a source of amusement. I'm sure this is much more common in other parts of Indonesia less visited by tourists. Last year I was on a remote part of Bintan Island- many people just go to Bintan for the giant resorts facing to Singapore- and we would get stopped just because we were white! Stopped not because they were terrorists trying to kidnap, harm, or blow us up us as the outstanding travel advisory for US citizens in Indonesia may suggest, and not stopped because they were corrupt police trying to get bribes from us but stopped just because they wanted to take a picture with us! What a strange feeling.

The only other major activity was a white water rafting trip. This was actually a pretty short ride as the water was moving fast but the rapids were no more than class 2 which is pretty mild. There were some unexpected dangers though. In the briefing before the ride the guide told us there would be several low bamboo bridges we would have to duck under to avoid. I didn't know how serious he was until we came to the first one and we really did (seriously) have to lay all the way back in the raft to avoid hitting our heads and even so it seemed like there was only a few inches of clearance. In reality maybe it was more like 6 inches but that seems pretty close. So what if you don't duck? I guess you get knocked out. As some people say- "Asia's full on" and personal responsibility is really stressed, mostly out of default in that people aren't going to care if you do something stupid and hurt yourself and there isn't another lawyer around every corner like in the U.S. to sue someone if you do hurt your self (no offense, John!). It's the same thing with the sidewalks around Ubud. Randomly the middle of the sidewalk will be opened up to the water drains below- maybe a two foot drop. You just have to pay attention when you're walking around.
That's about it. The other days were pretty relaxed, hanging out in Ubud and relaxing. So finally, some pictures:

A shrine right outside my hotel room/villa

view of the rice paddy dividing the hotel grounds

spend'n G's: it's easy when the exchange rate is just under 10,000 to 1USD

some of the wildlife wandering around town...

Some of the many rice paddies around the island

Ron's back yard is nice

We did not eat this pig... but someone will. Bali is not a Muslim island like the rest of Indonesia. It's Hindo but with special Indo Hindo rules which let them eat all kinds of things some Indian Hindos couldn't

a giant garuda

Quite a few pictures. It's a lot to look at. But I think it's easier than posting them all on a seperate website...

Bali is nice. I want to go back some day.

ubud cups

more pictures of the cups I made at the studio in Bali. We were working at the Horizon Glassworks studio near Ubud, Bali, Indonesia. These aren't that great but some of them are okay and they're a lot better than I thought after not blowing glass for just over a year. The first few days in the studio weren't that great as I was getting used to working with glass again in a new shop but after that I (and the others, too) did a lot better and had fun. The studio was hot but not as hot as I thought it would be for a glass studio almost on the equator. Plus it rained a few times while we were working so we walk out to cool off in the rain when we got too hot.

When working in the hot shop, expecially in the humid tropics, it's important to keep hydrated. Beer is a good choice. We went though a lot. Of course drink water too!

it's thaipusam

this was somewhat of an interesting day. walking to the subway this morning I couldn't help but notice a parade of Indians, their bodies pierced with hooks and rods either supporting giant metal shrines around them or pulling carted shrines attached with hooks to their backs- and then the occasional one with about 30 limes attached to his back with hooks like some twisted citrus christmas tree. each surrounded by an entourage chanting and giving support hoping the human pincushions would materialize their enthusiasm by dancing and spinning in circles while continuing down the parade route. Though this seems like a strange seen, i was unphased, realizing it's just the Thaipusam festival and the parade route just happens to pass just down the street from my place. There is bound to be some significant religious reasoning for this holiday but the details have been lost on me since the first time i ever saw it three years ago (that's what wikipedia is for anyway). The only reason I was shocked today was that one year had passed so quickly since the last one and I didn't realize the festival was today at all.

After work I headed down to the festival and met a few friends, watched some of the parade and had dinner in little india. Since my camera is broken and I don't have a new one yet I'm posting some images from last year and also from 3 years ago when I first saw the festival.

back in the SGP

I made it back safely to Singapore today after the domestic Indonesian flight yesterday and ferry ride into Singapore this morning. The good news is I found out my camera still works and it was just the LCD screen that has cracked. I still need to sort through them all and post them.
The field across the street from the hotel at sunset in Ubud. Bali is really nice!


The product: it doesn't look like much... and it's not but there a a few nice ones. I think I did much better than I thought I would for not having done anything really for just over a year. It took a couple days to get the feel for the glass again but by the end of the trip I felt really good and made some nice cups.

update II

I broke my camera last Sunday and the LCD screen doesn't work. I think it still takes pictures though. I'll find out later once I get back home.

The last few days have been fun. Went on a bike ride down from the top of the volcano here on the island then the next day we went on a white water rafting ride.. which was pretty fun too- they were only class 2 rapids but it was fun and the water felt nice and cool.

The trips starting to wrap up and they're are only a few days left- my flight's on Monday.

crickets everywhere

Bali is still good and the glass blowing is still fun. Mostly.. Last night it seemed like there was a plague of crickets coming through the shop all night which made working with hot glass interesting. It always felt like they were hopping on my head and back while I was working making it hard to concentrate. Sometimes they'd hop onto the hot glass and cook themselves.

Other interesting things moving around the shop are wasps, frogs, and of course geckos all over the walls.

Bali Upate

Bali is nice. We've started working in the studio a few days ago and have had 3 nights working so far. It's going pretty well. Bali is really nice. We're staying in the town of Ubud which is pretty small and quite.

There is a microbrewery on the island which pretty good beers. I still need to find where it's located check out the brewery.

Today we're taking a break from glass and going to a sailing boat trip off the island.

Transit to Bali

Last Sunday I started the trip to Bali and arrived on Monday (New Years Eve). Because the direct flights form Singapore were either full or very expensive at the last minute I decided to take a ferry across to Batam Indonesia and get on a domestic flight to Bali. There was no direct flight so I stopped over in Jakarta. I took Lion Air and despite all the scarry stories about Indonesian Airlines the trip seemed pretty normal. From what I could see I was the only white person on either of the flights to Jakarta and then on to Bali. The airports were confusing but easy enough to find my way though.

I got into Ubub, Bali after ~1 hour car ride on New Years eve. it was alredy late and my friends from San Diego weren't arriving until the next day so I went out and had dinner and drinks for New Years. The town was really quite. Kind of an anticlimatic and relaxed way to end this year. It was pouring rain as well so I got completely soaked walking back to my room.

Yesterday I met up with the others from San Diego and the guy running the glass studio we'll be renting for the next two weeks. We're going to be working from 4 to 10pm which is really good since it will be a little cooler and it will also let us see the island by day. We'll start at the studio today.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! this year has really flown by and now it's already 2008! I've been lucky enough survive this year and travel around a lot and get settled down in Singapore. Hopefully this coming year will be even better!