Day 29: What the ... A Merlion?

I awoke to an empty room, literally, I was the only one in it. Considering there are some 15 bunks, 30 beds, that's quite a feat. I scrambled to find my iPhone and realized, morning had escaped me, it was 1pm. So I showered, dressed, and with map in hand, I headed out to explore Singapore on foot.

First stop, the Merlion. What?  Yeah, the Merlion. It's a statue that is half mermaid, half lion, and spits out water into the river. Why? Why not. Next stop, the Esplanade, which is the huge theater/entertainment complex that sits across from the Merlion. It's pretty su-weet looking, not gonna lie. I went out to their open air stage and that's where I got trapped in a thunderstorm. With no where to go and such a great view, I sat and relaxed and just listened to the rain, amazing. 

Once it lightened up, I started off again to my next site, The Fountain of Wealth.But before I got there I realized something, most everything you walk on besides the street are tiles. So where we have concrete sidewalks, they do as well but take it one step further. I would not have noticed, but when wet, those tiles become terribly slippery and with flip flops, it definitely became a cause of care. So after entering the mall across the way from the Esplanade, I knew I'd be out of the rain for the most part, as they all seem to link to one another. I reached the Fountain of Wealth, which apparently is the largest fountain in the world, though I think only at certain times. But the superstition here, is to make a wish, while walking around the middle of the fountain 3 times dragging your right hand through the water. We will see if there is any weight to it in 10days ... I was specific, lol. 

Later I stumbled into some strange looking building, so I took a picture and entered. Anyone want to fathom a guess what it was? Yep, another mall! The only interesting part with this one was that it had both Coffee Bean and Marble Slab inside! My last stop of the afternoon was Funan Digital Mall. 6 floors of electronics, each level specializing in different things. Basically, all the stores are individual, and many had the same products which you then bargain on price ... Crazy. I was considering a netbook, but could not come to terms with using a Windows 7 starter operating system. So It looks like I will continue the blogs on the iPhone and on occasion update with pictures and videos when I have access to a full computer. 

That night Steve, a bloke from London at the hostel, and I went to Chinatown for some grub. Because it is closing in on Chinese new year, the whole place is lit up and in a frenzy. We found a little place where the food was cheap cheap, but there were no tables on the sidewalk. No worries, they took a table, put It on the curb, and said, "you sit". Deal. So after 2 lemonades, 2 fried noodles with chicken and about $10USD, Steve and I took off for the next stop.

We had both heard of the Clarke Quay area for clubs and bars and such. It was literally 5 minutes walk from the hostel, so off we went. There we found the smallest 7-11 in history and a line trailing out of it. Apparently everyone buys their beers here, then sit on the bridge and drink before going to the clubs, where drinks are pricey. So we followed in suit, I got a slurpee, Steve a water, and we hung out on the bridge and just talked about life. After our drinks and a proper amount of chill time, we went off to see all the bars and clubs an such. It was a cool area, almost like an outdoor mall of small bars, each with it's own concept. My favorite was a place called Clinic, where all the seating was either hospital looking beds or wheelchairs. Crazy. Did not go into any clubs, just walked through the area soon to return back at the hostel around 1ish. 

Nite nite via the iPhone blogger.

Day 28: Singapore!

Augus arrives at 5:30am to take me to the airport, we are both looking like death warmed over. About 25 minutes into it, he says, "Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Deano" and makes a u-turn. I'm like, no big deal, he missed his turn, soon to realize, it was 15 minutes back. It's all good because I planned for some buffer time and arrived with time to spare.

So after napping on the flight we arrive. The airport is rather impressive, super clean and efficient, even immigration was quick and easy. Everything was running smooth until I get to the MRT (the subway). You see, I would rather buy a multiple day pass or an all day pass, neither of which are options. So I decide on a single ticket, and them it was challenge number 2. On a touchscreen map, you have to pick your exit, which actually is intuitive and easy, if you know the map. 30 long seconds later and with the line building, I locate Clarke Quay purchase my ticket, and follow the masses to the terminal.

I arrive at Rucksack Inn Hostel and am pleasantly surprised at the quality and cleanliness of the space as well the helpfullness of the front desk. They check me in, show me around the hostel, give me a map, and inform me of all the must-sees for my stay.

Side note: Before I continue, let me share with you a few observations that I have made about Singapore. Number 1 ... It's one big mall. Every stop I've been to on the MRT has exited into a brilliant white and exceptionally clean high-end mall. Even at the non-shopping stops like Clarke Quay ... exits to a mall area. Amazing. This explains why Lindsay was so excited about me stopping in Singapore. I have no clue how women can work in this town, seems to me they would all be distracted and broke. Number 2, there appears to be universal free wifi here, which you know I love. The problem however is this, when you sign up, it asks for your local Singapore phone number so they can SMS you a password for entry. It suggests if you do not have one, to purchase one ... Um, I clicked on "visitor" which should imply that I do not have a local phine or number. I think it's part of their strategy, make you buy a sim card, a phone card, and the costs here should compensate for any free wifi you will receive. Looks like I will be doing all my surfing at the hostel.

Ok, with that said, my first stop is Harbour Center to fix my ticket for Sunday to KL on the double decker bus. I exit the MRT into what else, a huge mall with everything from McDonalds to Tag Heuer. After wandering through the endless corridors and after asking a few people, I find the Aeroline bus office. I explain my predictament, that I bought the ticket for the wrong date and destination last week. I emailed customer service after the online solution was not working. The email responses and website told me to come to the main office at Harbour Center. Simple enough, save that now it's less than 3 days, and the change that should of been free costs me $10 ... Hmm, scam or coincidence, we will never know!

At this point, I had realized my belly was rumbling because I had yet to eat, at all, all day, and it was about 3pm. Now to be fair, I knew I had not eaten, but I needed to get certain things done. So I wandered the mall and stumbled upon some food that I never eat back in the states but is becoming somewhat of a staple ... McDonalds. I walk in, see some familiar items at familiar prices, and then see items with the word "Mega" in front of them. Like the Mega Whopper, which is not 2 patties, but 4 between the 3 buns - woah, my friends in Houston would be so jealous. I settled on the Mega Spicy Chicken Sandwich combo, which Is twice the meat, but of course. I upsize the fries and feast on my ridiculously fattening and delicious fast food feast, then headed back to the hostel.

There I met a number of other travelers, I won't go into all the names, but a group of us collected and decided to hit Orchard Road. Ok, so Rodeo, 5th Ave, you name it, they got nothing on this place. The entire mall is connected whether undeground or above, it's massive and spans for a good mile or two. Anything you could possibly dream of is found here, from the most exclusive and expensive boutiques, to the common place Nike and Prada. And then there's the food. Everywhere you look, there are cafes and food courts and smoothies places and sweets and ... Heaven for a fatty like me! Here's some video of the view from outside the mall on a busy street corner during the evening.

We get back to the hostel to make plans for the evening by 9:30pm, but I am wiped out. So I opt to watch the Break Up with some of the other travelers while uploading videos and pictures to the blog, which takes me until 5am, and I only get to Day 10. Craziness.

Nite nite via the iPhone Blogger

Day 27: Exercise Day - Borobodur Temple & Maliobodur Market

My internal clock must of been way off because I awoke at 8am, uh, are you kidding me? So I finished rolling my freshly washed/dryed/ironed clothes, thanks Lindsay, and put them in their appropriate zip lock baggies - yeah, I'm anal like that. Took my shower, chowed down some pancakes (courtesy of Shane), and said my goodbyes to Judson and the Mikeska clan. Augus was waiting for me outside and we had a full day planned.

After 2+ hours of traversing not only the landscape but the moped nation, we arrived at stop #1, Borobodur Temple, one of the Ancient Wonders of the world.



History teaches us it was built upon a hill almost as cap stone for the hill. It spans 6 tiers before you get to the cylindrical cones, they comprise another 3 levels, and then it is topped by a large cone in the center and top of it all. Now here's a fun fact, it was built between 775ad and 875ad as Buddhism & central Java was phasing out and Eastern Java was taking precedent. It was forgotten and only discovered in the mid 1800's under piles and piles of volcanic ash.

Now for the actual experience, I paid $15usd = 135,000 Rp for myself, the bule, and 15,000 Rp for Augus, the native. I think we all know the scam they got going on here ... Smart. So we begun the trek (about a mile) to get to the base of the steps that lead to the beginning steps of the temple, stopping along the way to snag a pic. Tradition says that on every level you are supposed to walk all the way around the entire temple reading the stone etchings on the wall. Apparently they tell the story of the Buddhist lifestyle and history as well as how the temple came to be ... Of course not in English.  So Augus and I set off to make our rounds on this hot and humid day. Up the first set, avoid being caught in other tourists pics, take our own, make the round. Up the next set of steps, avoid the pics, take our own, make the round. And repeat and repeat and repeat. We make it up to the domes level ...



And continue until we reached the top, gazed off of all 4 sides at the awe inspiring views:



... and then made our descent. 



At the base, there is some signage for a museum, free with our temple admisson, so off we go to that. I think we take a wrong turn because all we are doing is walking with no buildings in site. Finally we find it, sign the guestbook, and take a self guided tour through a few rooms ending with a life size boat. Yeah about 75 feet long, set in sand about 10 feet below the floor, rope protecting it from touch.  Why is it there? Who knows, but it's cool so no complaints.  We exit, I'm hot and hungry, and wanting to get back to the car, so we head towards the exit sign. But of course its not the real exit, our next stop is through the maze of warungs all trying to sell you their trinkets at "good luck" prices and "cheap cheap". Once through the souvenir city, heading toward another exit sign, you are spit out into the food plaza just outside some gates.  After navigating through the throngs of venders all pushing their Picardo Sweat and Aguaria, we finally see what appears to be a parking lot, and like a beacon of light, our car. So heres the breakdown, 1 amazing temple, 1 suffiient museum, 1 overwhelming souvenir maze, 1 dirty food plaza, all equaling about 6 miles of walking, and one unforgetable experience.
  
Next stop was Jogjakarta and Malioboro Ave, a touristy place for shopping. I tell Augus my #1 priority is to eat. So we park and begin our exploration. Imagine if you will, the souvenir shops at your local theme park. Now remove the doors and AC, insert humidity and stale air, aggressive sales people saying cheap cheap all the time, and remember that everything is trinkets, souvenirs, fake bags, and painted (batik) shirts, and you have Malioboro Ave! Now from that list, what's the one thing missing? That's right, my #1 priority. After walking about a mile, we happened upon a mall, thankfully, with air con and a food court. Needless to say, after the meal I was ready to relax. So we headed to another mall, a few miles outside the mayhem, and I found a Starbucks. I know I know, in the states I'm not a fan, but over here anything American has a familiar and comforting feel ... even Starbucks. There I caught up in email and sports.  

I won't even bother you with the details of our 2 hour search for a reasonably priced suitable hotel. It resulted in a room with aircon, but no shower, sink, or hot water, just a bucket and a spicket, and no tv. It was a reminder of how spoiled I was at Shane and Lindsay's. Luckily, it was located a few hundred meters from a cinema playing Sherlock Holmes. So $4, a ticket, popcorn, and tea later, life was good. 

I wrapped up my evening taking my first cold bucket bath in a partially open bathroom. Just me, the water basin, a non flushing toilet, a drain, and some eight legged observers chiilng in the corners.  

Nite nite from the iPhone blogger 

Day 26: Indo's love Obama

I awoke late to a rather uneventful day, so Augus dropped me off at Hardjono's Blue Lotus Coffee so I could read, write, and surf. I would of done more of it save a few enjoyable interruptions. 

First, you must know that the great thing about Blue Lotus is not just the coffee but the company. Hardjono comes out and chats with every customer, and we are not talking about just a cursory hello, I mean full out conversations. So he and I, like clockwork had an engaging conversation about business and motivations and personalities. After an hour, it was time for him to help his staff and speak with others in the restaurant. 

Not 10 minutes later, Devi stopped by my chair. She works at Blue Lotus and helps with the books and management I believe. We also ran into her at the English speaking church service on Sunday. Anyhow, though a native of Indo, she went to school in Australia and speaks English very well. We had met several times in passing, but we had never really spoken, so this was the first conversation and it was a dousy. Just take a wild guess how it began ...yep, Obama. The Indo's love him or the idea of him and assume we do as well, which then always brings about a healthy conversation. We covered everything from Obama's Nobel Peace Prize to healthcare to gun control to abortion to McCain to ... An hour later she needed to run to meet with, who else but, the cable guy. I found out later he was 2 hours late, so it seems like a universal issue, haha.

Shane picked me up with little Judson in the car. Lindsay was teaching English at the community center, so it was a boys night. When I entered the car, Shane said we needed to stop by a certain store to get these special chips that had not been available for a month. I would compare it to finding out that in Texas there was an in-n-out truck coming to Dallas once a month with a limited supply of burgers. His friends saw them, bought a ton, and made the call to Shane to inform him of their discovery. However, not 5 minutes after we departed from the Blue Lotus, Shane has to pull over into a Kitchen warehouse store to relieve himself. His belly had been acting up all day with no signs of a reprieve. 

Knowing he'd be a bit, I unstrapped Judson and brought him up front and on my lap. It's amazing to watch the creativity and curiosity of an almost 1 yr old. He played with the visor, flipping it up and down and pulling it off the hitch. I unrolled the tinted passenger side window half way and he played peekaboo with the tinted part and open part, giggling with glee the entire time. I set him up at the wheel and he drove us around, ecstatically flipping on the windsheild wipers and turn signals. When he found the horn, it was time to move on. About 10 minutes later, Shane returned and we were back on track for these magic chips.

We reach the store, Shane asks the clerk to bring out as many of these chips as she had from the back. She returns with a large cardboard box filled with individual boxes and asks if it was enough ... Almost $30 later he had bought almost their while supply.   He says they stay good for 2 to 3 months, so it was a worthwhile investment. 

We returned, I shaved my face, packed my bags, and prepped for the journey back to Yogya tomorrow via Borobodur and Malioboro Market.

Nite nite fom the iPhone blogger  

Day 25: Philospihical Theology and GI JOE

So I thought about the highlights of my day, and other than chilling with Judson, one of them was most definitely the movie theater. It was a bit reminiscent of the states, other than the subtitles dancing across the bottom of the screen, with regards to a quality experience. We saw GI Joe, apparently they just got it, and for about $4 I bought our tickets, popcorn, and drink - now that's what I'm talking about! And surprisingly, the chairs were large and really comfortable, the picture and sound were stellar, the popcorn and drink were spot on ... a pleasant experience. 

Earlier that afternoon, while Shane and I were at the mall, we got into an interesting conversation about the church. We spoke about our differing opinions on Sunday morning service, the role of pastors, pastoral leadership, and how it's done around the states and internationally. We spoke of the emergent church and the Acts 29 movement as well as liberal and conservative ideals. It was a breath of fresh air for the both of us. He rarely has the chance to converse like that in Indo, people here just don't question what they have been taught or pursue knowledge outside the box. For me in LA, I don't tend to have as many philosophical theology conversations, but ones much more about pragmatic application and implications on lifestyle. And lets be honest, the chances of me having anymore of these on my travels is slim to non-existent. Unless I happen to run into a crew of European athiets who love to discuss God and reason,  which I am actually very open to. 

So my night ended with a good 2 hour conversation on Skype with a fellow Entreprenuer in LA about what I will do when I return. I again am going to bed way too late! 

Nite nite from the iPhone blogger
  

Day 24: Laziness & Judson's first steps!

Laziness is a funny thing, we oft times mistake it for rest, then one day wake up and wonder where our week went. I came to Shane and Lindsay's to have a siesta from my travels with mosquito nets and squatty potties, but what I've found is that I've lulled myself into laziness. Today I accomplished none of my goals, and I know, I know, "I'm on vacation", but when did that give me license to disconnect from my passions?I know this is not like most of my other blogs and perhaps I'm just in a mood, but it's time for me to be purposeful with my days again. If there is nothing new physically to explore, than it's my mind that I must dive into. I have 7 Children's books to write and a screenplay to complete. Life is too short and too precious to let the days be stolen away, so tomorrow I shall write.

Now with that said I must concern myself with a few points of commentary from today. First I attended an Indonesian Baptist English speaking service this morning. Yeah, if I read that church service description, I'd make some strong assumptions as well, so here's the real skinny. We enter to 10 people in the pews and one Indo women standing at the front preaching, I believe, because she speaks acceptable broken English. Her sermon consisted of a random collection of verses ranging from Deut to 1 Samuel to John. Strung together by obtuse analogies that involved forgetful pooping pastors and breakable pieces of rope. And if that were not enough, she was followed by a 4 piece band playing hymnals at an alarmingly slow and almost unreconizable rate. Now looking back, I wish I had captured it on video, cut right, it could of been a brilliant YouTube sensation. 

We then picked up Lindsay from the medical missions location she was assisting at, and proceeded to lunch at their favorite joint, S2. We returned home for all three of the Mikeska's naps while I hit a coffee shop to catch up on emails and such. 



But what tonight was a bit of magic. I had committed to Shane and Linds to watch Judson tonight so they could attend a Grand Opening at Hardjono's Blue Lotus Cafe. Before they left I threatened that I would get Judson to take his first steps in their absence, completely kidding of course. And then what do you think happened? While standing against the fridge playing with the magnet letters and farm animals, he turned toward me to show me what was in his hands. He stepped away from the fridge and I held out my hands at least a two feet away, and he took three steps before grabbing my fingers. I was floored. Typically as he steps away from anything, he immediately folds his legs in so as to land on his rump without any pain, but not this time. When they came home, he was tired and threatened to repeat it, but got lazy an did the spaghetti leg thing instead. Regardless, the experience was amazing, Judson was endearing, and I was in awe. 



So beyond that, what else is there really left to tell? It's time for bed. 

Nite nite from the iPhone blogger!        

Day23: Completely Irrational...

Was up till 4 trying to post my blog. Each video takes about an hour to upload to YouTube because of how slow the Internet is here. It's like the days of dial up ... Oh the joy. So I awoke at noon and was exhausted. Shane and Linds were having company for lunch and cooked Tortilla soup, yum! It was an older couple from the company, Paul and ??, and they were taking off for 17 days on a trip to Malaysia/Thailand. So they passed on some of their 30+ yrs of missionary wisdom, ate, and said farewell.  

Then Shane and I took off for Gramedia at the mall while Linds and Judson took a nap. I needed to get a wrist brace and he was in the market for a guitar. Not sure what I did to my wrist, but it's all kinds of screwed up. Traffic was loco and definitely littered with suicicles - it's not a matter of if you get hit, but when and how bad. We finally made it to the store,  I spent $7 for my wrap, and Shane spent almost $150 on a guitar, stand, and some badmitton rackets for the farm. He then dropped me off at Black Canyon and headed home to hang with Judson and Linds. 

While at Black Canyon I caught up on emails, facebook, and some reading. Shane picked me up about 3 hours later in time for some homemade BBQ. They had heard the ground meat at this one grocery store was good, apparently here it's a struggle to find this, so I was getting to be part of the experiment. If the burgers were good, they would return to buy more for Judsons big 1st birthday party this coming Saturday.  We had bacon cheese burgers with baked potatoe cubes and I think their friends were correct, the ground beef was d-lish. 

Since the sale on the guitar was good and Lindsay had been seriously thinking of starting to play, Shane and I headed back out the door to a closer Gramedia location. However, each day in Indo teaches you something new, like how water pressure in the shower slows when it rains ... Why? Who knows, it just does. Or how McDonalds can be out of the 4 pack of Chicken McNuggets but still offers the 6 pack. But today was my favorite, Shane went to the counter to purchase the 2nd guitar and they would not take his credit card because it did not have some mysterious chip in it. Mind you, not 2 hours earlier at a Gramedia 5 miles away, the same card was used to buy the 1st guitar. And yeah, it would of made sense if they had run the card and it was declined or did not work, but they refused to run it at all. Classic. They are incapable of thinking outside the box. They were out of 4pc boxes and obviously you can't put a 4pc chicken mcnuggets in a 6pc box. His card did not have some chip they were told it had to have to work, thus why would you run it? Craziness I tell ya, completely irrational, welcome to Indonesia.

So we returned, but not empty handed. I introduced the two to the comedy, The Hangover. 

Nite nite from the Iphone blogger.

Day 22: Fishes and spiders and goats oh my ...

I awoke earlier than usual, whether naturally or by alarm I cannot recall, knowing that today we were heading to the farm. Now what that entailed I was unaware, just that part of the reason Shane is in Indo is to help run the farm and make it more efficient. So Augus, their driver, picked us up at 10:15am and off we went for a 45 minute drive up the mountains past the teak and rubber tree orchards into the rice fields. We arrive and Aji, the national that helps run the day to day operation, was waiting for us at the main house. Shane and he exchanged some banter about the existing projects, in progress projects, and future projects while I walked the property trying to avoid the monster spiders who made their webs in any available open space. 

Two of their new projects are the goats and the fishes. Both are aimed at helping the locals create sustainable ways to live off the land. Pretty sweet goal, right? The goats reproduce providing mothers for milking, meat for eating, and waste for fertilizer. The fish pretty much provide the same but also provide cash when sold. They also have rice fields and vegetable gardens and fruit trees - all supported by IMB to help train the locals in farming and business. I think that's way cool.

While there, they had me try two of the local delicacies, Rumbatan & Coconut Water. Check out the two videos below to find out how that went.





On the way back, the drive was speed up, slow down, honk, and repeat. Some parts were very rural and lightly trafficked but back in the city it was mayhem as usual. It's hard to capture in a video what it's like here on the roads, but I poorly compiled a few moments from my return trip and here it is.



By the time we returned to Shane's place it was definitely time to grab some grub and a nap. When I woke, we headed to the Blue Lotus to visit with Hardjono and partake of some Kopi Luwak. As you recall, this is the most expensive and rarest coffee in the world. If you have seen the Bucket List with Morgan Freeman, you know all about it. Hardjono syphon brewed me a cup, and I must admit, there was an allure to the drink. The aroma was strong, the coloring dark, the taste rich. But being a fru fru connoisseur, after a few raw sips, out came the sugar, chocolate, and milk. Most coffee aficionados would say I ruined my $60 drink, but I'd say I made it drinkable. So now we can check that off my bucket list, which incidentally I watched for the first time tonight when we got home. 

Alright, I'm pooped, will upload this blog and hit the hay! Nite nite from the iPhone blogger. 

Day 21: "Deano, share your testimony" ... Uh

My day started late again, up by 11am, out of my room by noon. It's almost like my body is adjusting to my LA hours - crazy. So Shane had originally talked about heading to the farm this morning, he helps the nationals run it, but Linds was running late with her errands and his belly was acting up, so it was postponed until tomorrow. Instead, his team leader from IMB, his Missionary Organization, called and asked Shane to meet him at the local mall to do some blitz evangelism. What's that you ask? It basically means you just talk to anyone whose willing to converse and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them. Now I have had some experience with this back in the states, mostly during my collegiate and youth pastor years, but that was 7 years ago. Also, mind you, this is a predominantly Islamic country, some being radical, so I was not only intrigued to see this in action, but a little concerned. We met Greg at the mall, split into groups of 2 & set out to have intentional conversations.

Greg and I paired up and headed for a coffee/donut shop on the first floor - me in a coffee shop, shocking I know. I ordered some chocolate ice blended coffee goodness and Greg had his boring, i.e. black. Apparently he had been to this shop before and shared Christ with a few managers, but none of those were in. Today we met a new manager named Ado, a nice kid probably in his early 20's, who spoke broken English. I assumed Greg would do all the talking since clearly I spoke no Indo, I even brought a book to read in case I got bored. But Greg was having none of that, not 2 sentences in he leans to me and says, "Deano, in less than a minute can you tell Ado about the most important decision you've made in your life?" Uh, If you know me at all, I can't tell you about paint drying in less than a minute much less my testimony. So I started off, "well, I was in college, I was dating this girl, and well ... Is it ok to mention sex? Does that translate?" Yeah, this was a rough beginning. "Well she wanted to have sex and I was curious of course and the only reason I hadn't was because of God but I didn't know Him and so I didn't and then I wanted to but, uh where was I?" I got nervous, wondering if men with guns would jump out from behind the donut counter, or at the very least they might cut off my coffee supply. I mix up my words, am anything but articulate, and luckily Greg jumps in and translates to Bahasa (shortened term for their language). I nod and hope he is doing a better job with my words than my attempts.  And then Ado asks, "so you did not want to have sex ever because of Jesus?" Brilliant question, and the answer would be negative Ghost Rider, I sure did and still do, it was more about Him giving me strength to resist, but I knew I was not making much sense.

So I took a deep breath, thought for a moment, and said, "Ok, let me start over. Here's the skinny, I'm an idiot, I choose to sin, do it all the time, and am never gonna be perfect. God is perfect and perfectly clean, so He can't be in the presence of sin or it would make Him dirty, thus the problemo. If I want to chill with God, I'm dirty, He's clean, and I can't clean myself or get rid of my sin, what do I do? Enter Jesus, the answer, His life, death, and resurrection. Only through trusting Him and His death to kill/cleanse my sin, and His resurrection to give me new life, do I get to chill with God without making Him dirty. Ok Greg, translate." I think he spent the next 20 minutes translating my one minute testimony. Perhaps it was that Bahasa takes so many more words to paint simple concepts, perhaps it was that Greg was sharing his own version and only pretending to use my words, or perhaps he was having to use 5 times as many words to translate my slangy vernacular. Regardless, Ado understood. Ado said, "that's true, I agree, I was raised Christian" ... what? After all that talking and translating, in a mall full of people, in a country that's 85% Muslim, the one guy we speak to already considers himself a Christian. What are the odds? Hilarious. Well, at least I know I won't be gunned down or worse, have my drink confiscated today.

We arrived back at the house, Linds was cooking for the small dinner party they were hosting tonight, and I jumped in the shower for a quick cleanse. By the time I got out, Shane had taken over the cooking, one of his hobbies and passions, and everything was smelling d-lish. The other 3 westerners/guests arrived and we had a great time chowing down, talking about the states, and playing with Judson.

After their guests had left, I booked my tickets from KL to Phuket and secured a hostel through the 16th while watching what else but American Idol! So to clarify, I leave on the 4th for Singapore, the 6th to Kuala Lumpur, and the 10th to Phuket ... beyond that, I have yet to decide. Ok, perhaps the farm will be on the docket for tomorrow and you can hear all about it, but for now I must hit the hay.

Nite Nite from the iPhone Blogger 

Day 20: Fru Fru Coffee Connoiseurs

Today was a lazy relaxing day involving a late start, good food, and good fellowship. So I awoke around 11, exited my room at noon, and just enjoyed another good nights sleep. Lindsay had been up since 6:30 with Judson, and it appears he might have a little cold. They were hungry as was I, so we started off to one of their favorite restaurants, the Black Canyon Cafe. It's got wifi, pretty cool decor and one of Shane's favorite Coffee drinks, not even sure the name. You see, Shane and I are what you would call Fru Fru Coffee Connoisseurs, yeah, our official title. We both do not like the taste of coffee but enjoy the effects, so the more chocolate or cinnamon or Oreo they put in, the better. I like to think of it as a milkshake with a kick. And this Asian chain restaurant has a whole menu to this effect, could you ask for more? So we had a good meal, a couple of good coffee creations and then they were off for their day leaving me with their mac and wifi to take care of my business. 

My BofA debit card still will not work with the stupid "verified by visa" process. I am trying to book a flight to Singapore and then a really nice double decker luxury bus to KL, but to no avail. I called BofA and they say they have not rejected a single purchase that "Verified by Visa" is Visa's deal. I log into VbyV's site and online I discover it shows all the transactions I tried to make as if they happened, but never sent them to my bank. I sent them an email and will give them 2 days before I pull the plug on VbyV. I used my Chase debit card and it worked like a charm, so I leave for Sing on the 4th, which would be the 3rd in Ca. 

Shane says you can get a dental cleaning here for about $15 and an accupuncture visit for about $5 ... Guess what I will be scheduling over the next few days. My wrist has been acting up since my return to Kuta from Ubud about a week ago. The only strenuous activity I can recall is bowling, but bowling has never done this before. So I'm dousing it with Bengay and will see the Accupuncture guy if it does not improve - I mean for $5, you can't beat it. I will also have him check out my neck because it's been sore again lately and might need a tune up.    

Shane, Linds, and Judson picked me up around 6 and we headed off for the French Walmart of sorts, CarrFore, the only store reminiscent of home. I literally just wandered the isles until I found the candy isle and reverted to an 8 year old seeking diabetes. So $5 and 10 different kinds of candy later, I made my exit. We dropped Lindsay and Judson off at the house so she could get him ready for bed and headed to a hotel they are a member of. It's kind of like the country club concept, gives you access to the pool and discounts on the food, but is all contained in a building attached to a mall. Again, this place is fairly crowded and since they do not go up very high here, most land is built upon. We enjoyed a brilliant buffet with everything you could want until we got to dessert. As a heads up, the Indo's put sugar in everything, from eggs to drinks to rice, but apparently there is one thing they do not think requires it ... Dessert. Never have I had such bland and boring desserts that look way d-lish. They have layered items and chocolatey items and orange items and gelatin items and there was one thing that they all had in common, they tasted like blah. Not sweet, not tart, just bland, it was saddening. Luckily I had a bag of candy waiting back at the house! 

We returned, we watched some Idol Hollywood week, I gourged on a little candy, and just chilled for the rest of the night. It was a lazy relaxing day.

Nite nite from the iPhone blogger
 

Day 19: You drink what?!

A few things to know about the island of Java, Indonesia. 62% of the 240 million people in Indonesia live here, on an island not too much bigger than Tennessee, so it's stupid crowded. 85% of the people are Muslim, not Hindu like on Bali, which means they do not believe in Karma and have no problem stealing, cheating, jumping in line at the airport. That's why Shane and Lindsay taught me two phrases to use while here. The first is "Antre Dong" (pronounced On Three Dong) which means, get in line or in order. The second is to follow the first, "teribisa", which means No You Can't! The great thing about the Javenese is that once their fault has been pointed out, they are quick to acquiesce fault and step into line.  

When I landed Augus, their driver, was waiting. I don't remember half of the drive because I was zonked from lack of sleep and an upright sitting flight. So after our quick detour to McDonalds, I was struggling to keep my eyes open and struggling to keep them closed. Yeah, you read the second part of that sentence right. Little known fact, or maybe a widely known fact, I'm a bit of a side seat driver and my mind works in such a way that I observe everything on the road. Ask any friends who have driven me, it takes a lot for me to keep my lips shut and pretend to enjoy the drive. Ok, now in Indo, there are only general principles when it comes to driving here and no formal education. Motorbikes are everywhere and much like ants crawling next to beetles, they fill in all the gaps. There were several times I jumped because I thought we were about to hit someone at 60km/hr, but they were near misses and always the bikes fault. So much of the drive was like a wooden rollercoaster, starts and stops were quick and abrasive, turns oft times involved jolts to avoid the bikes, and bumpy because of potholes and motorists you run over ... Kidding about the last part. Eventually I reclined my seat, eyes were shut, and off to sleep I went - thankfully!

Arrive at Shane and Lindsay's house and got to meet little Judson for the first time, he's almost 1. A little background, we all went to Texas A&M together, Shane was my little brother in BYX, I was B-Team in his wedding. Lindsay was in a great group of girls that I often hung out with, and when Shane moved back to Houston to pursue Lindsay, I hooked him up with the Turners, where he lived for free all the way through his first year of marriage. So when I arrived, it was like old times, as if time had never lapsed. We talked life and missions and theology and about his suffering. Some of you know, because I have asked you to pray for him, but for those who don't, Shane has been in Indo for 2 years as a missionary. For some reason, this time around living here, his stomach has been giving him major problems. This involves frequent and oft times painful bowel movements, constant pain in his abdomen, occasional hot flashes and cold sweats, and dizzyness. There are probably more symptoms, but these are what I can recall. He has been to every specialist that South east Asia can provide and all are stumped. When back in the states, after a month, his body returns to normal functions and he is well, but everytime he returns, it goes wack again. Some say he's allergic to the tropics, but he has tried everything from diet, to antibiotics, to alternative medicines and accupuncture, nothing works. So now his missions company is working on relocating him somewhere else in the world - please pray for him and that process. 

So today he took me to meet Hardjono, the owner of the Blue Lotus Coffehouse and Cafe, one of his best friends. There I learned more about this Kopi Luwak, the most EXPENSIVE coffee in the world. Basically there is an animal called the Luwak that loves the coffee bean, but it's rather particular and only eats the best of the best coffee beans. So as it is processed through the Luwak's body, everything is digested except the bean and it comes out in a clump. People literally walk around the plantations all day picking up Luwak droppings and then dry it out into clumps, I have pics. Then they do some kind of cleaning process to the beans to ensure aroma and flavor before roasting. You can store them in an airtight container for over 2 years before roasting and they are perfectly fine. Why is this relevant? Well because a half a kilo of these beans here will run you about $70USD and a cup alone of it in NYC will run you about $60. Yeah, people pay 60 bones to drink some animals crap ... Amazing. With that said, Harjono roasts all his own beans and had no Luwak available, so in 2 days I will return and drink some Kopi Luwak, aka, Animal Crap Coffee! Woo Hoo. Here is what they look like unroasted:



Hardjono also showed me this cool chemistry set way of brewing coffee, it truly was a science. I have video of it, and will try and post that soon, but it's the most sophisticated way of brewing coffee to ensure maximization of aroma and taste. Now I'm not a coffee connoisseur (read that as snob) like my roomie from Brentwood, Cameron, so I was more fascinated by the process than the taste. In fact when Harjono poured me my cup, I dumped sugar, milk, and Hershey's chocolate sauce in it ... It was d-Lish!









I spent the rest of the day uploading pics and videos on a borrowed MacBook, such a treat, and returned a hundred emails. Came back with Shane to hang with Judson, the coolest little one year old, and just chilled at the house. They have a modernized Indo house that Shane and Lindsay have put a ton of work into. Most houses in Indo do not have central AC, just wall units if you're lucky. Floors are all tile, walls are all concrete and thick concrete at that. Bathrooms can range from completely tiled-in squatty potties with wet open showers, to what Shane has upgraded to, nice counters, modern toilets with sprayer & tee pee, and proper bathtubs and showers.  My favorite room is their family room, it has a feel of home for sure ... Aircon, sectional couch, nice carpet, flatscreen tv, satellite. This is a great siesta from my travels: great friends, great fellowship, great accomodations!

Nite nite from the iPhone blogger

Day 18: Cobra's and Dogs ... Uh

So if I had not already mentioned, Brit lives about 100 meters down a grass bordered brick alleyway only reachable by motorbike. The first half of the alley is bordered by a small rice field on one side, concrete wall on the other. The second 50 meters is concrete walls on either side with a few doors leading into villas. If you continue down the alley another 50 meters you would hit a large rice field and apparently there's a big Cobra that chills there, maybe several. Who knew Cobra's lived in rice fields? Brit has yet to see the big one but he's had friends that observed it right outside his door, and his dog has killed several baby ones in his garden that were about 18" long. And then there are the dogs ... In Bali they run wild throughout the entire country but as of late, they are having incident with rabbies. And there must be 5 random dogs that I have passed on my bike down his alley, which Brit informs me like to snap at bule's (white people). So keep this all in mind for this next part. 

I wake at 3:45am, make a call to the cab company to make sure they will pick me up at 4 at the end of the alley on the road. I load up to leave, huge Gregory travelpack strapped on my back, over the shoulder bag around the front, and my iPhone flashlight app to guide me. As I make my exit, lock the door, my local cell starts to chirp, it's the cabbie. He's speaking really fast Indo-English, says he's at the entrance of the alley, but I see no lights down by the street. He keeps asking questions, distracting my attention from the path, the one with possible cobras and dogs, that I am traversing in the pitch black dead of night. I attempt to tell the cabbie to meet me at D-Mart (like a small 7-11) about 50 feet south of the alley entrance, so I can get off the phone and focus on my task. I realize I've been walking without paying enough attention, and I'm now next to the small rice field. I hear something rustling in the tall grass, but hear no growl, which makes it all the more creepy. I tell the taxi driver to hold as I shine my flash light app in that direction, nothing. I hear a distant bark closing in and hear more grass rustling. Uh, this is not the best time to observe, so I high tail it to the road, never looking back. I'm sure I looked pretty stoic with my packs on my back and front flopping as I sprinted in the dark with 2 cell phones in my hands, one in my ear and the other lighting the path. I reach the end, heart beating, eyes adjusting, just in time to look back down the alley and hear a yelp from a dog. I have no clue what happened, but here I am going to take creative liberties and allude to the fact that the dog was was attacked by the 6ft Cobra that was hot on my trail. Whether that's true or not, we will never know ...  

So that brings you up to speed on the first 30 minutes of my day. Now for the airport. I think when I arrive, it might have just opened. I went to the Lionair counter, there were a few people scurrying behind it setting it up for the day. I got in what I thought was a line at the 2nd counter, I am #3, and waited patiently for somone to sit behind it. As I stood there, more and more people joined me, but not behind me, they walked to the front of other counters as if they were there first. Semi-lines, more like crowds formed around them, and I thought, do they not see us in our nice perfectly formed line? The girls put up a sign saying our flight behind 2 of the counters and the crowds quickly shift and form quasi-lines behind it with no respect to who was there first. I would of been number 20 by the time the lines straightened out and was having none of that because your seat is assigned at check-in. So I busted to the front, just stood number 3 in one of the lines, and ignored the crazy people behind me. I think someone was saying something negative in a native tongue but since I'm a "bule", I did not care to look back or listen. I asked for the window exit row seat that reclines, got it, and went through to the gate.

When our flight was called on the speaker to the gate, it was pandimoniun. Again, it becomes a crowd mentality with pushing and shoving, no organization or sections being called. Once through the bustle, we descend some stairs and see a bus waiting to take us to our plane. They pack it full, to the point of dangerous - imagine an overstuffed subway car, most people standing, with not nearly enough bars and handles to grab - and of we go. We stop by one plane, a few words are exchanged, I guess that's not ours for today,0 and we move on. He stops at another, the doors open up and people scatter for both entrance staircases, one in the front and one in the rear. I ascend the front, find my seat, store my bag, and realize they gave me the wrong exit row, the one that does not recline ... Blurgh! 

Shane's driver Augus was waiting for me at the airport with a big sign saying DEANO. We jumped in Shane & Lindsay's ride and head for our 3 hour trek to Semarang, 3 hours and 15 minutes if you include the pitstop by Mickey D's! 

This blog has gone on way too long already so tomorrow I'll catch you up on the crazy drive, the beautiful volcanos, Shane's sweet house, & the great fellowship we had. Till then, nite nite from the iPhone blogger! 

Day 17: Making Al Gore cry

My day started late, maybe 10am. My bro, Brit, fixed us an American style breakfast, eggs on toast with OJ on the side, so simple, so d-lish! Then headed off to Kuta to my local coffee joint, de Excelsio, to have my standard coffee drink: Cookies and Cream Ice Blended. I knew I was going to love Bali when I stepped off the plane and saw Oreos at a nearby warung.. These people get me. I read a bit more of The Naked Gospel and then headed off to return my motorbike. This was around 3:30 and I was craving some Nasi Goreng Ayam, so I swung by Treehouse one last time and gourged myself. 

Now it was nearing 4pm and church started at 5 at Brit's place. He lives about 4 miles up the beach and a mile in, so I had two choices. Grab a cab for $2 or walk it along the beach ... so $2 later ... Kidding. I could use the exercise, so off I went. 

Now here's a little known fact that they don't print in Lonely Planet, litter and trash line the beaches here, and most of it comes from the locals. They have no concept of cleanliness, and when they finish eating something, they drop it to the ground. Whether it's a banana peel, an Oreo wrapper, a 6 pack of bottled Bintang ... they just throw it to the ground. Al Gore and the tree huggers in Cali would have heart failure. So these particular beaches, where the locals can easily patron, are littered and disgusting. To the credit of some, there does seem to be a daily effort to rake the beach of it's refuse, but there is always more. Now that I've said that, this does seem to be exclusive to Kuta, Legian, and part of Seminyak. Nusa Dua, Padangbai, and Amed beaches were clean.  

So I arrive back at Brits, where church was being held this week, at 5:15pm. The 90 degree 90% humidity day had taken it's toll, I was sweating my balls off and smelling something fierce. As I enter, the first people I encounter is a group of 5 girls hanging on the lanai, 2 Aussies, a Brit, a German, and an American. I paid my cursory greetings and made a b-line for the room I was staying in to grab my towel and a change. But when I reached the top of the stairs I found a couch blocking the entrance to my room. So I cajoled Caio, a Brazilian friend from bowling, into jumping the couch and fetching my stuff so I could enjoy Brit's cold water shower, and the rest of the members could enjoy a break from the stench.  

Brit taught for 30 minutes, did some good exegesis on John 17 and the importance of community, and then we, as a community of hungry people, were off to a German Warung for some Chicken Schnitzel and fries. 

The night ended with Beyonce and a pirated copy of Obsessed - I don't think you can buy a real DVD here if you wanted to - and then I will be up before dawn, 3:45am to be exact, to catch my flight to Jogyakarta. 

Nite nite from the iPhone blogger 

Day 16: And my stomach was a rumbling ...

Stayed up watching a Discovery Channel show on how they solve murders called ID and a show on animal planet about a snake bite trauma unit - one word - Fascinating! Went to bed around 2am and awoke at 8am ... Blurgh, not enough sleep, but my body has it's own clock. Fattened myself up at the all you can eat buffet at the hotel & started to pack. It's amazing how quickly your bag can fill, even if you don't buy anything. I might have to start throwing things away or get a backpack for my front. I thought my plastic bag packing system was without fail ... Fail! Finished cramming everything in, then had to board my motor bike with an extra helmet, over the shoulder bag, and big backpack ... It was a sight! If I had just balanced something on my head I would of looked like a native. 

Decided I would plug in at a local coffee cafe and partake of some Cookies & Cream coffee blended goodness. Once I sat and ordered, I find the Internet is not working ... Fail! 

Brit joined me at the cafe, finished his sermon, I read my book "Naked Gospel", and partook of some of the food at the  cafe. Not sure if it was the spicy alfredo or the 2000mg of Calcium I took, but I started to sweat and my stomach started to twist. Uh oh ... Bali belly? Food poisoning? Too many vitamins? Whatever it was, I made I to the public toilet just in time. Imagine a place with 3 solid walls and a big wooden door, no ventilation, tiled walls, out in 85 degree heat & you will understand where I was to relieve myself. I won't bore you with the details, but if you've ever peed fire from your arse, you know the drill. The GREAT thing here is that they have these hoses next to the toilets instead of toilet paper, please take that with a bit of sarcasm. Though I do like the refreshing spritz and think generally it's probably cleaner, I'm a man of conventional throne qualities and want some tee pee. And with the backsplash from my initial ordeal, I'm rinsing more than a small area and don't want "wet arse" all day. After 20 minutes of sweating and dehydrating my body, I felt a calm come over my midsection, it was over, well almost. I spritzed the area, which left me dripping from my undercarriage to my boys, with some moisture reaching high crack. Something had to be done and my options were limited. 1. I could use my tanktop which I had removed in the beginning of the incident. 2. I could use my shorts on the legs, like I do with my hands whenever there are no paper towels (an often occurence in Bali). Or 3. I could use my undies & freeball it. So which do you think I chose?  Option 4: I had some cash in my pocket, mostly smaller Rupiahs, four 1,000 bills and one 10,000 to be exact, and they did the trick. That amounted to about $1.50 USD which I would of gladly paid for a few squares of tee pee, so it was a worthy sacrifice. Ironically my cell phone picked up a wifi signal and I found myself with 62 emails when I checked my phone for duration time. 

We got back to Brit's pad and he made the suggestion that we should go for a run on the beach - I think we all know what he was implying. We jogged much of it, but walked a fair portion as well, thanks to my pleas for mercy. We ran into some Javenese students studying English who wanted to practice on us as well as take pictures with us. Maybe I'm strange, but I'm the guy always trying to get people out of my pics on the beach. Anyhow, after the run, the sun was setting, so I grabbed my iPhone and camera and headed to the beach. The sunset was brilliant and I wanted to capture it all. I turned on my camera, pointed it in the right direction, snapped one pic, and it told me it was full. What?! And them it hit me, I left the freaking SD card in the camera case ... Blurgh! So had to settle for some iPhone pics and headed back to the house. 

Rami called and we agreed to grab some grub and check out a little nite life in Kuta. We ate for cheap cheap, had a few drinks, and hit up a few places. The first was some 2nd story bar overlooking Legian, the main bar strip, across from the 2002 Bombing Memorial. A Reggae band was killing it so we stayed for a bit. Next stop was a placed called Bounty which was pretty much Spring Break Daytona Beach. Many were without shirts, majority of people were kids, and literally some looked like they were 12, drink in hand. It was definitely interesting to experience but I felt like I crashed someones white trash prom or I was the chaperone. Crazy. 

It began to rain, so with a few unexpected detours, I dropped Rami off and headed for Brits. Ok, time for sleep from the iPhone blogger, nite nite.  

Day 15: The task at hand

A wise man once told me that if you accomplish 20% of your to-do list on any given day in Bali, your doing extremely well.  Sounds like permission to me ... 

Started my day at Treehouse for an Indonesian breakfast, aka fried rice and tea. Newsflash! Did you know that fried rice is fattening and high in cholesterol? Yeah, the staple of my diet over here and my go to item on the menu. That explains the 10lbs and spare tire - insert tear. So now I'm trying to find healthy filling alternatives ... What about fried noodles?  

Settled in at the local internet warung to complete task 1. I owed some people emails, like 100 of them, so I settled in for the next 3 hours returning emails, downloading pictures, attempting to upload pictures, etc. Oh and note to self, don't download your pics onto a computer you do not own and hit "delete pics on camera". I was going to send them all to my mac account online until I realized they were taking 4 minutes a pic to load ... I had 379. So tried to upload them back onto the camera but my Canon was having none of that. I bought and burned the last  CD they had at the warung an double checked the files to make surethey burned correctly. Note to the American public, if you ever think your Internet is slow in the states, just think back to the mid 90's and dial up or come to Bali, it's pretty much the same thing.     

Caught up over lunch with my new friend Rami from Finland, you will remember him from the Monkey Forest Mauling in Ubud. Brit joined us as well, found out Rami was in a punk band and they talked shop for a bit. Then I jumped on Brit's bike and we took off for the airport so I could book my flight to see Shane in Semarang. Along the way I saw a travel agency, we made a u-turn, I paid 410,000, about $8 more than the online price, and task 2 was complete.   

Task 3, I rented a motor bike for 2 days, paid $4/day, check. Task 5, I hit up a wifi coffee shop so I could upload my blog and play on facebook - which worked out well since the sky decided to open up again. 

It was about that time and my belly was rumbling, so I explored Poppies 1 and found another cafe that shows movies while you eat and I settled in for a bacon cheeseburger, banana milkshake, and some Twilight. Once Bella was saved and the credits rolled, I was pooped and headed back to my air con and some slumber. I know, I know, there are probably 200 bars/clubs within 200 yards every which way, but tonight for me was low key and perfect.

Nite nite from the iPhone blogger.

Day 14: A man dies...

I awoke after a much needed 10 hours of rest. Hit my local Treehouse for some grub and headed back to the hotel to relax at the pool and catch up on my blogs. Apparently this hotel has become a haven for the Swedes, they have multiplied since last I was here. Met Gustav today who is traveling with his girlfriend for the next 4 months and then will head back to Uni in the fall. Met a weathered old Swede in a speedo who has a dolphin tatooed on his right pec. This Swede,Werner, has 3 kids in the Philippines from 2 different women, the oldest is 20, and a 5 month old from an Indo girl who he's with now. He works on a container ship that ports in Australia, 5 weeks on, 5 weeks off. He was very free in telling me where all the best "girl dancing" bars are in Southest Asia, his favorite being in Thailand at Pantai beach. Uh, thanks Werner, I'll get right on that.

Brit, my buddy from Texas A&M, picked me up on his ride about 2pm. Took me to a French Walmart of sorts off the main highway. I wanted to see how much a netbook would run me, you can find them as cheap as $200 in the states. Cheapest HP at this place was 5,800,000 Rp or $650 ... Are you kidding me? So I decided to stick with the iPhone blogging for now and Internet cafes.

Then we headed back to his pad to grab grub and watch a pirated Dvd with Natalie, his roomies fiancé. Coincidentally when we got there he had large pieces of wooden furniture that required assistance from an additional guy to move, enter me ... How convenient. We watched a movie, but kept stopping it to talk about life and ministry and theology. It was such a refreshing and encouraging conversation. 

I think it's funny when roles reverse. I first met Brit when Amanda Bostwick/OKelly brought him to help at my D-Now back when I was a youth pastor. At that time he was in college and just a wanderer trying to figure out what he wanted to do in life. A year late, summer 2003, he started youth ministry at StoneBridge Church in The Woodlands as I was leaving to move to CA. Overall we might have spoken a handful of times but never really hung out. And now he's a pastor, DTS trained, in a mission church in Kuta, working with a really tough ministry, raising support, reaching out to the Hindu's, and I'm am now the wanderer, trying to find what plans God has for me. Kinda cool. We both discovered that life over the past few years has been tough and definitely not as prescribed. Yet through the toil and pain, it redefined both of our relationships with Jesus resulting in strength and grace. This has led to so many refreshing and encouraging conversations. I love it when God surprises me like this!

On a more heartbreaking note, at bowling last night I met a man named Eric. He was an ex-pat from the states and was over here running a project for a large US company. He had met a wonderful Balinese woman, married her, and they had 2 beautiful kids together. About 5 minutes after Brit and I left, he was getting into a cab to go home and he had a heart attack. They took him to the hospital as quickly as they could, but within 30 minutes he was declared dead. It's surreal because we had literally just been bowling with him and he looked healthy and fit. He might have bowled the second best game of the round. It's strange how fast and fleeting life is and how easy it is to take it for granted. It taught me I need to be more thankful for what God has graciously given us and to remember it has an expiration date, so live for today, because tomorrow is not promised, for any of us.

Nite nite from the iPhone blogger 

Day 13: Arak attack, Allison Wilkey, and Brit Carpenter

I awoke to The Arak and Ali having a brutal fight in the bathroom ... And Arak was clearly the winner. It could of also been a touch of the Bali Belly, but regardless, my ear plugs were not significant enough to protect my ears. So I packed my bags and headed for a wifi connection. While talking to the groundskeeper, Ali emerged asking for toilet roll. They did not understand so he explained, "I bend and it comes out my mouth, I stand and it comes out my bum, and it continues this way. I need paper." 

On my way I met a poor rice farmer and artist by the name od Made Sedana who lives out side of town in Bayuan. He came in for a drink with me and showed me some of his collection. After an hour or so I agreed to buy a piece, but only if I could pick it up when I return in a few months. He agrees and I get all his information. 

Not 20 minutes later a Scandinavian girl walks by the front of the cafe, stops, walks back, and stares at me. I look around becasue though I'm obviously adept to girls staring, this one felt more piercing. "Bel Air Pres" ... Uh, yeah, what's your name again. "You throw big parties, the Nogger, House of Blues, don't tell me your name." What was your again? "Allison, Deano." Wow, and what are you doing here, in Ubud? "I just finished my yoga certification at Yoga works and decided to take a trip and learn more. I was just in Cambodia, fell in live with the people, and think I might go back and serve in an orphanage there for a few months." And for the next 45 minutes we just talked about our travels and life and mutual friends and home ... It was amazing.

I finally return to Kuta, Brit Carpenter - a buddy from college and a pastor in Seminyak - met me at New Arena Hotel. I book a room for 3 nights and head off to dinner at a small warung down poppies 1. I think my whole dinner with shake included was maybe 2 bucks. 

We then head off to a traditional Balinese event he ha previously planned with his community group ... bowling. I played some of my worst bowling in years, or should I say my only bowling in years. There I met a smathering of good people, like David from Germany whose traveling for a year, Caio the Brazilian worship leader who just finished his studies in Australia, Nelly who is 5 months preggo and still bowling, Matt the Hawaiin who helps run a surf ministry, and many more. 

Afterwards it was an exciting evening of flat tires (no, not the drink, but the literal kind), my credit cards getting rejected by multiple travel sites, and American Idol in the local pub. It was a good day in Bali.

Nite nite via the iPhone blogger

Day 12: Charlotte can't make it up the Volcano

Sleep was up and down. Though the accomodations were nice, they came with additional guests in the bloody sucking variety. So we had to light three mosquito repellant coils inside to try and dissuade their feasting activites while I personally sprayed "Off" with deet on every inch of my body. 

The morning greeted us with the sun and the heat, thank goodness for air con, and we were trying to make decisions about the day. By the time we had breakfast by the sea, I had a shave and my mates had a dip; we were ready for the next adventure. 

We split the mountains and headed for Kitimani by Batur Lake. We went back through Amlapura and there it was, like a beacon of light, an ATM. We had not seen one since before Padangbai, 2 days earlier, and we were running out of $$. It's hilarious, in Ubud you can't throw a stone without hitting an ATM, but out there we drove probably 200 km without seeing a single one.

We decided that we should see the highest and largest temple in Bali, Temple Bashik on Mt. Agung. We took a wrong turn and ended going up the highest road in Bali & by the time we realized it, the temperature had dropped 20 degrees and we were literally in the clouds. Of course the road got steeper and steeper and before we knew it, sweet Charlottes 4-banger engine could carry us no farther. So what do sane people do? Shane and I jumped out to lighten the load and Ali rolled backwards to flatter terrain back about 1/2 km and we try it again. Once he came flying by us with his fist pumping out the window and disappeared around a corner above us, Shane and I realized our folly. Here's a clip of it.



So began our 1/2 mile trek up the steepest part of the road ... Brilliant. And you would think our lesson had been learned, but no, we jumped back in and started the next incline, to the same result. So rinse and repeat, out and up we go. Let's just say Shane and I got our leg workout. Once we realized Charlotte was probably done with the climb, we headed back down the mountain, and that's when the rain came ... From within the cloud we were in. Kind of crazy to think that the rain falling on us was being created in the cloud we were traveling through.

We finally find the temple Besakih after following throngs of open air trucks/cattle cars piled in the back with 10, 15, sometimes, 20 people. As we wind through unpredictable terrain, it finally opens up to a massive parking lot of ... filth. I thought we had accidentally followed people to the dump, but no, this was the lot for your car and where you begin your climb. We parked, payed 5,000Rp, watched where we stepped, and followed the crowd. Warungs were lining the road on either side selling everything from wooden quacking ducks to imposter purses and shoes. The streets were packed, woman balancing all kinds of baskets on their heads, men walking next to them without anything, it was mayhem. On top of that, I believe we were the only westerners out of the 20,000 + people there at that moment. Now combine that with the fact that hygiene is lost on these people, from offerings not accepted to whatever the remains of their meal, it all ended up on the ground, in piles, and everywhere you stepped... When we reached the temple a mile later it only got worse. There were thousands sitting outside the temple on the offering lined grounds, either having picnics or staring at the mountain or bowing down. We did not have sarongs, so we could not enter the temple, but from what we saw, it was a-ok with all of us. Here is a clip about it of the mayhem ...



We quickly returned to Charlotte and got the heck out of dodge, collectively thinking we could of missed that temple.

When we finally returned to Ubud, we were exhausted and in need of a shower. Ali and I split a room at Suarsea, down an alley off an alley, which was surprisingly well appointed. I showered and got a sim card for my phone and then headed off for
Bunute's for some Arak Madu ... My favorite Bali drink thus far. Ari was there, generous as always, and soon Shane joined us as well. After about an hour I headed for a wifi connection and the continued their night without me, a night that Ali would not soon forget. 

Nite nite via the iPhone blogger     

Day 11: "You want breakfast?"

9:45am - Knock knock knock ... "you want breakfast?" ... Knock knock knock ... "you want breakfast?" I open the door to a tiny Balinese girl. "You stay tonight?" No, heading to Amed. "Then checkout 10am". What the flip? Every place I've stayed in Bali has had a noon checkout. So I order breakfast, had a quick shower and pack, then relaxed while I ate and observed 10am Bali time, ie 10:15. Which was still 20 minutes before Ali, who looked like he lost a fight with Father Time. 

We took off up the coast with Syd, who I have still yet to have the privilege to meet. Ali thinks he might be the true owner of Charlotte, our teal Suzuki jeep vehicle. Might have been one of the most beautiful drives I've ever seen. Jagged cliffs dropping off into the sea, lush green mountains shooting skyward around every corner, and children who wave and say "hey" as you pass by. 

After an hour and a half we pull over to a seaside cafe, Meditasi, to grab a bite. There we realize just how bad the flies are on this side of the island. Must of had lunch with at least a few hundred of the considerate and health conscious little buggers. Knowing how many calories are in my milkshake, they willingly sacrificed 15 of their lives to prevent me from finishing  the second half. Now that's sacrificial service. 

Here we also were introduced to Paw Paw, the Australian cure-all. Sweet Susan, a school teacher from Stralia, gave us hers, said it would heal up my foot and leg twice as fast. I think she said you could use it for headaches, athletes foot, upset stomach, skin rash, sun burns, infertility ... Ok, maybe not that last one, but you get the gist.  

We finally reach our destination area of Amed. I was under the impression it was a city, but it's more like 10km of coastline with no central hub and a full variety of accommodations. We ended up at Wawa Wewe II ... infinity pool on the ocean, bungalows with outdoor hot water showers, lofts, and air con - all for 400,000 - so about $15/ person. We spent the rest of the day on location being goofy, swimming in the rain, watching the fishing boats go by, and listening to the constant pounding of the surf. It truly is rural rocky coast paradise here!

Nite nite from the iPhone blogger   

Day 10: Roadtrip with Syd the spider

I did not get a proper chance to say farewell to Busbee as he was off exploring Ubud and it's countryside. So I bid him adieu in a note, knowing that he was staying at Graha Ubud for another week or so, and headed out.

My motor scooter guy, Cede, dropped by around 10:30, while I was having my breakfast, to pick up the bike. I told him I'd probably be done by 1, but that I had a few more errands to do. He said, "no later or pay more". I ignored the comment because my contract said 4pm and I figured I'd be done by 1 ... Of course I wasn't. 

We met at Lala Lili's in Shane's palatial Bungalow and upon arrival discovered a barely awake and tore up Aussie. So I left to get petrol while he took care of packing and waking, and Ali took care of lounging at the pool.

I was done by 1 and on my way back to Shane's when I run into Cede ... He yells, "hey, hey it's 1". I give him the "be right back shortly sign" and press on. By the time I arrive, they are ready to roll, so I tell them to meet me at a cafe near the drop off for the bike. On my way back I decide I'm going to film myself hgile riding the scooter. Bad idea! Attempting to hold the camera while accelerating resulted in me falling into a ditch and burning my leg on the exhaust. It was not too bad, though my pride hurt much worse than the burn. Here's the video from that fall...

 

So when I meet up with Cede at 1:30, he asks me what time it is - cheeky little fellow. And he then says you must pay more. I then return the quip and ask him what did the contract say? 4pm. He conceded and I won. Then Quickly walked away and hit up a convenience store for betadine, to clean the leg, and hit up the cafe to upload the blog.

They arrive, we head off on our first leg ... with an extra visitor. We call this hairy saucer-dish-sized eight legged arachnid Syd, and though I had not seen our fellow traveler, I was aware of his location about 2 inches below Ali's balls, under the drivers seat. We tried to catch a rooster and some stray cats to feed him, but were never quite quick enough. 

First stop, the rice fields. As I exited to take photos, the local band of postcard pushers ranging in age from 5 to 8, stopped by.  "Special Price for you, 1 for 15,000, 2 for 40,000, 3 for 100,000". I think they were going the wrong way with their math.   At the base of the steps, where you capture the picturesque hillside, sweet old men try to sell you palm weaves hats, and I think to myself - where the heck am I going to put that for the next few months of travel. I politely decline. Return through the salesman, back into the car, and we were off to Padangbai. It's a sleepy fishing villiage and deep water port for everything being exported and imported into Bali. It's also where you catch the slow boat over to Lombok and the Gili islands. 

The lady at Padangbai 2 hotel tries and sell us on 2 rooms with queen beds for 200,000 ... Not sure which 2 of us she thinks wants to bed together, but really? We'd like 3 rooms please and will only pay 210k, which is agreed to. Head off to eat and stuffed myself good plus dessert to boot for $7.

After our meal, the theme was ARAK! We found a restaurant serving Arak mixed drinks for 15k, cheap cheap, and these were not the normal ones ... really really strong ones. I had 2 and was lit. Then it was Kinky Reggae Bar time! I won a "get lucky" drink, Ali hit on an old Swedish couple, Shane kept himself and us amused all night with his shock-trick lighter. The bar closed, we wandered the empty streets, took a dip in the sea and made it to bed before 1am. 

Nite nite from the iPhone blogger