Week 4.
It could also be referred to as:
-the week that Elise left.
-the week that Dave arrived.
-the week that we said goodbye to Ina.
-the week that I spent two nights in Kuta.
-the week that I used all of my remaining energy and then became sick.
-the week that I said goodbye to my new home.
So, Sunday night...Elise is packed and we jump into a car to head for Kuta. Ina and Blue also follow/take off ahead on the bike. The plan is, spend a last couple of hours with Elise in Kuta, get a cheap place to 'sleep' (aka, leave our stuff while we party) and then...well... party. And that's exactly what happened! It was sad saying goodbye to Elise though, because we had had such a great week and a bit together in Bali. She is one of my closest friends in the world, and I can literally say that now. Being overseas with her was just like...being overseas with my own right leg. Ha. I mean this as a compliment. Having her in my villa and hanging out with her was just easy and felt right. We just have so many new, fantastic memories to share together now. And some pretty awesome photos too...
So I farewelled Elise and took on the role of... third wheel. ;) Not really, Ina and Blue are totally awesome to hang out with. We went to Sky Garden, which is basically the biggest nightclub in Kuta. Sunday nights are 'Ladies Night', so for two hours, drinks were free for Ina and I. Awesome. We also did all you can eat Sushi, which I have to add was the best sushi I've had in a while. After the free drinks were finished, we got a call from Sadam who had finished work early (well... I think it was 2am) and was driving down to join us. Yay... someone to talk to while Ina and Blue were making out. ;) We moved to the bar just out the front of Bounty, and i think another 3 or 4 drinks were consumed. There must have been a few because I was convinced I was the next best thing to Michael Jackson on the dancefloor. And it was music you'd never, ever, EVER catch me dancing to in Adelaide. EVER. But meh, when in Bali right?
By the time Sadam came, we had moved to Apache Bar, which was just a bit further up Jl. Legian. There was a live band playing the usual hits... RHCP, Bob Marley etc etc... The guys were keen to leave, basically because we get to hear this (and to a much better standard mind you) every night at CP. So we move on, back to Bounty. But to the real deal. The pirate ship.
If you've been to Bali before, and you've experienced Kuta to it's fullest, you will not need to be told about the greatness that is Bounty. Yup... I did say pirate ship. It's a two storey nightclub that has firmly been entertaining tourists for many a years now, and it's inside a giant pirate ship. Can I say pirate ship again. It's pretty freaking cool. Inside the main stage, there are podiums and cages for dancing, and lights everywhere. The music is very, FreshFM, but it works. About 85% of the crowd are Bintang Singlet-clad (otherwise referred to as Binglets or, to the extreme, Binaforms) Australians. They are mostly well behaved, besides the guy who decided to pick a fight with a local guy jsut behind me. Lucky Sadam saw it go down and pulled me out the way in time. Might have left Bounty with yet another concussion... but that was a lifetime ago. We won't explain it here. ;)
So...Bounty was a great success as expected. Got pretty hungry around 5am ish and hit up my old favourite... Maccas on Kuta Beach. Wandered back to our shabby little room for a couple of hours of rest, and then got up, had breakfast and made my way to the airport. Dave was officially arriving in Bali this morning, and I was pretty damn excited.
I think I have remembered a lot from this week, and expecting that I could do it all in one post was pretty ambitious. Perhaps I will leave it at this point and do another post of the next few days... Give myself something to look forward to anyway. And I have a day off work tomorrow to live in the past and remember the fun time in Bali... yeh, that sounds like a plan Kate.
All for now then. :)
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Day... Something- Week 3 Recounted Very Badly.
So... I think I was about 8 days behind in my bloggings at one stage, and I had every intention on catching up on those days when disaster struck.
Note to self: Do not allow the boyfriend to drink coke while using your laptop. A combination of said drink and keyboard never ends well.
Because of this, I lost use of the following keys: 'A', 'S', '1', '2', 'P', 'delete', 'shift', 'command'... just to name a few.
Mass frustration. Expecially when my email address starts with 'SA'... It rendered any possibility of catching up on blogs or just writing new ones completely impossible. The only option for me was to hang out in internet cafes and type away, but I had so many things to do that the blog just wasn't a priority any more. If I was going to hang out in an internet cafe for a while, then I'd be researching for Green School and Starfish, and printing off worksheets, not worrying about making a pretty little blog about my day.
But, well... now I'm home so I guess one way of drowning my sorrows is to come back here and try to do a brief recount of what I've missed. I know Dave has somewhat taken over- he utilised his time in internet cafes waiting for me to finish working but retelling his day. Mine are slightly different though, and I have a few days previous to his arrival to share as well... lets see how I go for remembering it all though. I mean, we are talking about...2 and a half weeks ago. In Bali time, that's at least 2 months.
Week 3
I'm not entirely sure where I left things off, but I will start at the beginning of week 3. On the Sunday (which I believe was the 13th), we had our last day out in Ubud with the twins. We wandered around the main street, through the markets, along Monkey Forest rd. It was a really nice day that day if I remember it correctly, and Jess and I decided to be super girly and get our nails done. So we walked down this little side street to a little spa/salon and enjoyed being pampered for the next 55 minutes. I remembered loving this more than usual because the night before, having been the girls last night in Bali, was a memorably big night including a lovely dinner at Nomad on Jalan Raya, followed by a number of cocktails and bintangs at CP...followed then by an impromptu pool party at my villa. I think... It's a combination of time/alcohol/sleep deprivation that hinders my memory of this. But it was a good night.
Before I knew it, the driver was on our front doorstep helping Jess and Ali with their bags and they were driving off into the distance. It was sad, I had had so much fun with my first visitors to Bali. But I also had no idea the rollercoaster ride I was in for with Elise either... :)
The next day was Valentines Day. Bllleeeerrrggghh! Ha. I don't really buy into the whole Valentines day thing, and sometimes here at home I will get sucked into it, but it was good being overseas for it this year. Sure, I missed Dave, but no more than any other day. There was no extra hype or longing to be showered in gifts. Just another beautiful day in Ubud you know. I don't completely remember this day, or the night before. I can only imagine that we went out for dinner or something, and then went to CP? Most probably. I do know that on the day of the 14th, I spent about 8 hours at Starfish. Ok... maybe not at Starfish, but doing work.. I think some of those hours were spent at an internet cafe doing some printing. Regardless, I do remember being there until quite late, because I totally missed the whole fundraising event that CP has thrown for Deaf and Blind children. Every year for 3 years they have held this big concert starting in the afternoon, called "Invitation to Love", and it's always on Valentines day. The kids dance and sing, and there are raffles and all sorts of those kinds of things. I would have loved to have seen it, but the day had already gotten away from me. And you know what... I was already doing my thing for my kids, so in a way I didn't feel too bad. We made our way to CP that night anyway.
This is where things get a bit blurry. There are no more... 'events' like Valentines Day to indicate or act as a reference point. What I can tell you is my days pretty much looked like this:
Wake Up anywhere between 9.30am and noon.
Go to Starfish around 12.30-1pm.
Stay at Starfish, or complete Starfish related work somewhere for the next 6-8 hours.
Go back to Villa somewhere between 6pm-8pm.
Get dressed up, go out for dinner and be at CP anywhere between 11pm-1am.
Leave CP at about 5am.
Start all over again.
This wasn't just my schedule for Week 3 either. It kinda stayed like this for the whole trip. Seems crazy to look at it, written down like this but when I was there, doing it, it just felt right. I didn't feel gross in the mornings- I felt fresh and excited for a new day and to go to Starfish. I rarely felt hungover or seedy, and I only occassionally needed to take a nanna nap on the couch in the afternoons- those days were usually because I'd been walking around rather then riding. Sure, there is no way I would be able to keep that lifestyle going indefinitely, but my body kept up with me just fine. Probably because it knew only a couple of weeks would need to pass and it would all be over. Still.... I have no doubt in my mind that I made the most of my time while I was there.
So other bits and peices of my week are blurred together, but other parts do stand out. I remember having this one day off work- or I had at least finished what I needed to finish for the day, and Elise and I were so excited to get some shopping done. We planned to walk to Ubud and buy up some souviners for Elise and I was jsut excited to go shopping. We get out to Jl Pengosekan, and cross the road to avoid what has affectionately been named "the Devil Dog". I don't know if I've mentioned the Devil Dog before now. It's this black dog that sleeps all day in front of a Potong Rambut (Hairdresser), and damn it I would have put down all my money that he would bark and growl and chase me (or any other white person) if they came within 15 meters of the asshole. On my first or second day, he actually bit my bag! Not really something to take lightly, since the dogs here are likely to be rabie infected. So, we had taken to walking on the other side of the road when we approached the Potong Rambut- and we slow down/speed up depending on the traffic, ie if there was a lot of traffic coming, we'd walk quickly because it would usually stop the dog from being tempted to run across the road to attack us. Anyway, he did try to do this a few times... but Dagmara showed me a tip for dealing with these kinds of dogs. Apparently the dogs are quite used to having stones thrown at them by locals, and if you bend down and pretend to grab a rock, then pull your arm back like you're going t throw something, the dog backs right off. And wow- it worked everytime. Stupid dogs. Actually... i take back the plural, some of the dogs were super cute. Please refer to the puppies at Sanur, and also Jake the Bali Spirit dog who sleeps regularly (and parties regularly) at CP.
Anyway, back to my story. Elise and I are walking, we avoid the Devil Dog, and we walk past this Turkish restaurant called Istanbul. It looks nice, and we agree we have a half an hour or so to spare and a juice would be really nice. We sit down, decide to order some appetisers, some water, you know... just to get ready for our afternoon of shopping and walking.
Well...that all went out the window pretty quickly. The food was amazing, and we sat with the owner for a good hour and a half just talking about Turkey and his home town, and food and tea and shisha. It was a pretty nice little afternoon. The owner brought out some traditional Turkish tea for us to try and it was amazing. We decided right there and then that we would come back for a whole meal and shisha too.
This was kind of a common thing for me in Ubud. I'd maybe have some plans in my head for the day, then I'd get distracted, or something completely unexpected would get in the way. Usually this was the monsoonal rain which would stop everyone from doing anything. I have a giggle to myself at times because, one thing Australian literature and film and just general opinion has over time taught us, is that we are at the full mercy of the Australian elements- we should fear the Australian environment and climate. But heck, I have never been more stranded by weather than I was in Ubud. And it was spectacular.
Note to self: Do not allow the boyfriend to drink coke while using your laptop. A combination of said drink and keyboard never ends well.
Because of this, I lost use of the following keys: 'A', 'S', '1', '2', 'P', 'delete', 'shift', 'command'... just to name a few.
Mass frustration. Expecially when my email address starts with 'SA'... It rendered any possibility of catching up on blogs or just writing new ones completely impossible. The only option for me was to hang out in internet cafes and type away, but I had so many things to do that the blog just wasn't a priority any more. If I was going to hang out in an internet cafe for a while, then I'd be researching for Green School and Starfish, and printing off worksheets, not worrying about making a pretty little blog about my day.
But, well... now I'm home so I guess one way of drowning my sorrows is to come back here and try to do a brief recount of what I've missed. I know Dave has somewhat taken over- he utilised his time in internet cafes waiting for me to finish working but retelling his day. Mine are slightly different though, and I have a few days previous to his arrival to share as well... lets see how I go for remembering it all though. I mean, we are talking about...2 and a half weeks ago. In Bali time, that's at least 2 months.
Week 3
I'm not entirely sure where I left things off, but I will start at the beginning of week 3. On the Sunday (which I believe was the 13th), we had our last day out in Ubud with the twins. We wandered around the main street, through the markets, along Monkey Forest rd. It was a really nice day that day if I remember it correctly, and Jess and I decided to be super girly and get our nails done. So we walked down this little side street to a little spa/salon and enjoyed being pampered for the next 55 minutes. I remembered loving this more than usual because the night before, having been the girls last night in Bali, was a memorably big night including a lovely dinner at Nomad on Jalan Raya, followed by a number of cocktails and bintangs at CP...followed then by an impromptu pool party at my villa. I think... It's a combination of time/alcohol/sleep deprivation that hinders my memory of this. But it was a good night.
Before I knew it, the driver was on our front doorstep helping Jess and Ali with their bags and they were driving off into the distance. It was sad, I had had so much fun with my first visitors to Bali. But I also had no idea the rollercoaster ride I was in for with Elise either... :)
The next day was Valentines Day. Bllleeeerrrggghh! Ha. I don't really buy into the whole Valentines day thing, and sometimes here at home I will get sucked into it, but it was good being overseas for it this year. Sure, I missed Dave, but no more than any other day. There was no extra hype or longing to be showered in gifts. Just another beautiful day in Ubud you know. I don't completely remember this day, or the night before. I can only imagine that we went out for dinner or something, and then went to CP? Most probably. I do know that on the day of the 14th, I spent about 8 hours at Starfish. Ok... maybe not at Starfish, but doing work.. I think some of those hours were spent at an internet cafe doing some printing. Regardless, I do remember being there until quite late, because I totally missed the whole fundraising event that CP has thrown for Deaf and Blind children. Every year for 3 years they have held this big concert starting in the afternoon, called "Invitation to Love", and it's always on Valentines day. The kids dance and sing, and there are raffles and all sorts of those kinds of things. I would have loved to have seen it, but the day had already gotten away from me. And you know what... I was already doing my thing for my kids, so in a way I didn't feel too bad. We made our way to CP that night anyway.
This is where things get a bit blurry. There are no more... 'events' like Valentines Day to indicate or act as a reference point. What I can tell you is my days pretty much looked like this:
Wake Up anywhere between 9.30am and noon.
Go to Starfish around 12.30-1pm.
Stay at Starfish, or complete Starfish related work somewhere for the next 6-8 hours.
Go back to Villa somewhere between 6pm-8pm.
Get dressed up, go out for dinner and be at CP anywhere between 11pm-1am.
Leave CP at about 5am.
Start all over again.
This wasn't just my schedule for Week 3 either. It kinda stayed like this for the whole trip. Seems crazy to look at it, written down like this but when I was there, doing it, it just felt right. I didn't feel gross in the mornings- I felt fresh and excited for a new day and to go to Starfish. I rarely felt hungover or seedy, and I only occassionally needed to take a nanna nap on the couch in the afternoons- those days were usually because I'd been walking around rather then riding. Sure, there is no way I would be able to keep that lifestyle going indefinitely, but my body kept up with me just fine. Probably because it knew only a couple of weeks would need to pass and it would all be over. Still.... I have no doubt in my mind that I made the most of my time while I was there.
So other bits and peices of my week are blurred together, but other parts do stand out. I remember having this one day off work- or I had at least finished what I needed to finish for the day, and Elise and I were so excited to get some shopping done. We planned to walk to Ubud and buy up some souviners for Elise and I was jsut excited to go shopping. We get out to Jl Pengosekan, and cross the road to avoid what has affectionately been named "the Devil Dog". I don't know if I've mentioned the Devil Dog before now. It's this black dog that sleeps all day in front of a Potong Rambut (Hairdresser), and damn it I would have put down all my money that he would bark and growl and chase me (or any other white person) if they came within 15 meters of the asshole. On my first or second day, he actually bit my bag! Not really something to take lightly, since the dogs here are likely to be rabie infected. So, we had taken to walking on the other side of the road when we approached the Potong Rambut- and we slow down/speed up depending on the traffic, ie if there was a lot of traffic coming, we'd walk quickly because it would usually stop the dog from being tempted to run across the road to attack us. Anyway, he did try to do this a few times... but Dagmara showed me a tip for dealing with these kinds of dogs. Apparently the dogs are quite used to having stones thrown at them by locals, and if you bend down and pretend to grab a rock, then pull your arm back like you're going t throw something, the dog backs right off. And wow- it worked everytime. Stupid dogs. Actually... i take back the plural, some of the dogs were super cute. Please refer to the puppies at Sanur, and also Jake the Bali Spirit dog who sleeps regularly (and parties regularly) at CP.
Anyway, back to my story. Elise and I are walking, we avoid the Devil Dog, and we walk past this Turkish restaurant called Istanbul. It looks nice, and we agree we have a half an hour or so to spare and a juice would be really nice. We sit down, decide to order some appetisers, some water, you know... just to get ready for our afternoon of shopping and walking.
Well...that all went out the window pretty quickly. The food was amazing, and we sat with the owner for a good hour and a half just talking about Turkey and his home town, and food and tea and shisha. It was a pretty nice little afternoon. The owner brought out some traditional Turkish tea for us to try and it was amazing. We decided right there and then that we would come back for a whole meal and shisha too.
This was kind of a common thing for me in Ubud. I'd maybe have some plans in my head for the day, then I'd get distracted, or something completely unexpected would get in the way. Usually this was the monsoonal rain which would stop everyone from doing anything. I have a giggle to myself at times because, one thing Australian literature and film and just general opinion has over time taught us, is that we are at the full mercy of the Australian elements- we should fear the Australian environment and climate. But heck, I have never been more stranded by weather than I was in Ubud. And it was spectacular.
Monday, February 28, 2011
The wind-down on the 27th
And so all good things have come to an end for now in Ubud, the best city in Asia. Kate and myself have finally arrived home after 7 days for me, and 30 days for Kate. I feel slightly stressed once again that we are home, as tomorrow I resume teaching classes that I had left behind before I left for Bali. Kate would have loved the opportunity and the privilege to stay longer in Bali, but I cannot speak for her. She'll have to tell you in your own time.
The events that happened after Friday were not entirely mind blowing in what we can tell you, as the primary purpose of the trip had been achieved by Kate. She had taught her last class, so it was time to finish up her time at the Starfish Language Centre.
For me, it was a time to really nail some more scooter riding during the day time. I had a full tank of petrol to burn and was more than happy to drop Kate to places and just keep riding around the streets for the hell of it. Not giving way to other traffic when you are turning left and right has its own idealistic merits in Indonesia, but it simply would not work in a western society. It's almost like everything Balinese people do, they do it well, be it creating shrines to their god's, constructing and creating, even riding scooters!
One of the smaller, yet somewhat uplifting highlights of Saturday involved one of our Balinese buddies, Sadam, doing something very special for Kate, myself and Thomas. Sadam wrote a little something on the promotional sign out the front of CP Lounge that went like this:
TONIGHT: PATY
THOMAS
BU KATE +
DAVE
Yes that's right. Promoted to the public of Ubud on Monkey Forest Road was our farewell "party". Unfortunately, our lovely friend Sadam spelt 'party' wrong, but understandably, the phonetics of the letter 'A' in Indonesian is actually pronounced 'AR', or so Kate tells me. Kate lets Sadam know about his little mistake, and the wonderful gentlemen comes back with a sign that read a little something like this:
That much better, no?
And so we all had a great farewell part at CP Lounge, a place that has been great for Kate to meet the locals and new friends from all around the world. As an added bonus, one of the good bartenders, Bagus, put on a special fire twirling show with burning Bacardi bottles. We've got great photographic evidence of that too, so don't fret, you will be seeing them!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sunday belatedly arrived afterwards for me by Kate walking in the door at an ungodly hour of the morning, as I had gone home earlier than Kate the night before. After a few hours of sleep, Kate was up again, and was a woman on a mission:
She wanted to go and meet this guy.
Yes that's right, a medicine man named Ketut Liyer. As made famous by Elizabeth Gilbert in the novel 'Eat, Pray, Love'. This guy only lived about 500 metres up from the road from where we were staying, so we thought, why the hell not? We've got nothing to lose.
So surely enough, we rock up outside the house, and it's the exact location where they shot the film 'Eat, Pray, Love', which was really exciting to see! We took a number and waited in line for Kate to have her turn to speak with Ketut Liyer. He average about 30 minutes with each person he spoke to. He spoke to Kate to find out a little bit about her, read her palm, studied her back and her legs to help read into her life, and basically told her in a nutshell that she was very pretty, and very lucky. Still, it's a humbling experience to take away from her trip.
After this, it was to do some last minute gift shopping and begin packing to leave for the airport. Also, it was time for me to part ways with my beloved Yamaha scooter which had kept me close confided company for five delightful days. I paid 150,000 Rp for the bike (an absolute steal in Aussie dollars) and then Blue, our driver, took us down to Ngurah Rai Denpasar airport for an 8.00pm check in. Overnight flights are pedantically long when you are trying to sleep on an uncomfortable upright economy class seat, this really didn't help the fact that we were leaving such a beautiful place to live in. Kate can certainly back me up on this, cantchya Katey ;)
4 hours and 40 minutes later, we arrive back in Adelaide at 6am local time. Walking off the plane gave me a real chill down my spine... it was brutally cold thanks to the arctic winds blowing from the south that I'd forgotten about over the past week!
Going through customs was going to be fun, as we had a few things to declare: Gopal's drum and some Kopi Luwak. Unfortunately, we lost the Kopi Luwak, which was mean't to be Paul Sando's gift from Kate (sorry mate, we tried!), and Gopal's drum has been quarantined for 6 weeks. It's a damn good drum with an awesome response to the sound, and the craftsmanship of it is world class. Without a doubt, it was well worth it to pay the $60 fee to go through that long process because as Kate said so herself, it's the greatest gift that any friend has ever given her.
As soon as we finished up with border security, it was time to walk through the doors and reunite our families. Well done Kate, you achieved what you set out to do when you decided to do this way back in July 2010. I think I can say on behalf of everyone close to you and all the friends you made whilst on your trip, you made every soul that you met really happy that you were there in Bali, and that you gained the experience and wisdom of caring for others, no matter where they were from in all corners of the globe.
Dave xo.
The events that happened after Friday were not entirely mind blowing in what we can tell you, as the primary purpose of the trip had been achieved by Kate. She had taught her last class, so it was time to finish up her time at the Starfish Language Centre.
For me, it was a time to really nail some more scooter riding during the day time. I had a full tank of petrol to burn and was more than happy to drop Kate to places and just keep riding around the streets for the hell of it. Not giving way to other traffic when you are turning left and right has its own idealistic merits in Indonesia, but it simply would not work in a western society. It's almost like everything Balinese people do, they do it well, be it creating shrines to their god's, constructing and creating, even riding scooters!
One of the smaller, yet somewhat uplifting highlights of Saturday involved one of our Balinese buddies, Sadam, doing something very special for Kate, myself and Thomas. Sadam wrote a little something on the promotional sign out the front of CP Lounge that went like this:
TONIGHT: PATY
THOMAS
BU KATE +
DAVE
Yes that's right. Promoted to the public of Ubud on Monkey Forest Road was our farewell "party". Unfortunately, our lovely friend Sadam spelt 'party' wrong, but understandably, the phonetics of the letter 'A' in Indonesian is actually pronounced 'AR', or so Kate tells me. Kate lets Sadam know about his little mistake, and the wonderful gentlemen comes back with a sign that read a little something like this:
TONIGHT: PARTY
THOMAS
BU KATE +
DAVE
That much better, no?
And so we all had a great farewell part at CP Lounge, a place that has been great for Kate to meet the locals and new friends from all around the world. As an added bonus, one of the good bartenders, Bagus, put on a special fire twirling show with burning Bacardi bottles. We've got great photographic evidence of that too, so don't fret, you will be seeing them!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sunday belatedly arrived afterwards for me by Kate walking in the door at an ungodly hour of the morning, as I had gone home earlier than Kate the night before. After a few hours of sleep, Kate was up again, and was a woman on a mission:
She wanted to go and meet this guy.
Yes that's right, a medicine man named Ketut Liyer. As made famous by Elizabeth Gilbert in the novel 'Eat, Pray, Love'. This guy only lived about 500 metres up from the road from where we were staying, so we thought, why the hell not? We've got nothing to lose.
So surely enough, we rock up outside the house, and it's the exact location where they shot the film 'Eat, Pray, Love', which was really exciting to see! We took a number and waited in line for Kate to have her turn to speak with Ketut Liyer. He average about 30 minutes with each person he spoke to. He spoke to Kate to find out a little bit about her, read her palm, studied her back and her legs to help read into her life, and basically told her in a nutshell that she was very pretty, and very lucky. Still, it's a humbling experience to take away from her trip.
After this, it was to do some last minute gift shopping and begin packing to leave for the airport. Also, it was time for me to part ways with my beloved Yamaha scooter which had kept me close confided company for five delightful days. I paid 150,000 Rp for the bike (an absolute steal in Aussie dollars) and then Blue, our driver, took us down to Ngurah Rai Denpasar airport for an 8.00pm check in. Overnight flights are pedantically long when you are trying to sleep on an uncomfortable upright economy class seat, this really didn't help the fact that we were leaving such a beautiful place to live in. Kate can certainly back me up on this, cantchya Katey ;)
4 hours and 40 minutes later, we arrive back in Adelaide at 6am local time. Walking off the plane gave me a real chill down my spine... it was brutally cold thanks to the arctic winds blowing from the south that I'd forgotten about over the past week!
Going through customs was going to be fun, as we had a few things to declare: Gopal's drum and some Kopi Luwak. Unfortunately, we lost the Kopi Luwak, which was mean't to be Paul Sando's gift from Kate (sorry mate, we tried!), and Gopal's drum has been quarantined for 6 weeks. It's a damn good drum with an awesome response to the sound, and the craftsmanship of it is world class. Without a doubt, it was well worth it to pay the $60 fee to go through that long process because as Kate said so herself, it's the greatest gift that any friend has ever given her.
As soon as we finished up with border security, it was time to walk through the doors and reunite our families. Well done Kate, you achieved what you set out to do when you decided to do this way back in July 2010. I think I can say on behalf of everyone close to you and all the friends you made whilst on your trip, you made every soul that you met really happy that you were there in Bali, and that you gained the experience and wisdom of caring for others, no matter where they were from in all corners of the globe.
Dave xo.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Friday - 25th February
How does one begin to describe the differences between the life and culture of Ubud and the hustle and bustle of Kuta?
The true identity of Balinese culture is revealed here in Ubud, not in the 'westernised' streets of Kuta. I don't know how it happened, but I somehow spent 1,000,000 Rupiah in Kuta last night, hangin' with Kate, Thomas and Sadam. It turned out to be a big night in only a small amount of time from 9pm till 2:30am. Intensely paced drinking, I don't recommend it.
Anywho, we will get to that later. Thursday was the day that I spent alone for the majority of the time as Kate was busy busy busy at Starfish for most of the day. So I took the liberty of doing a little shopping whilst I was here in Ubud. Strolling around the Ubud markets on your own might sound intimidating at first, but it's great fun if you bring along a positive attitude to the stall owners. I figured that because I had no idea what the time was all day, I might as well buy a 'genuine Rolex' for 'cheap price'. I spoke to 2 shop owners and they showed me a bunch of watches and some Ray Ban sunglasses. I wanted 1 Rolex and 2 pairs of Ray Ban sunglasses, so let the bartering games begin ladies and gentlemen. Here is the run down of what happened:
1st Offer: 75,000 Rp
Retort: 600,000 Rp
2nd Offer: 125,000 Rp
Retort: 500,000 Rp
3rd Offer: 200,000 Rp
Retort: 450,000 Rp
The final settlement: 400,000 Rp
As the humble reader of this wonderfully insightful Bali blog, I will leave it up to you to judge whether I got a sweet deal or just simply got ripped off. Paul Guy might say I did (hehe), but either way the storemen were nice to me and I had a great chat with them. I was their only customer for the day so far, so I didn't mind the bartering price, they can buy themselves an extra pair of shoes now.
So following that, Kate needed to be picked up and she had finished her day a little earlier than expected, so I hopped on the bike and went to go pick her up out the front of CP. Goddamn I love riding scooters in Ubud. The traffic all works like a messily spun spider web, and it is a great way to become apart of the community here. Kate hops on the back of my bike (and holds on for dear life because she clearly doesn't trust my riding skills) and we head back to the villa for a little nanna nap before the events of the night unfold.
It was also Ina's last day here in Bali after spending 5 months in Indonesia. Ina, Kate, Thomas, Blue, and myself hired a driver and went to the airport to see Ina off for her flight home. Now I've only been here for a week and have missed the developments of Ina and Kate's relationship in the beginning, but I have never seen Kate so sad to see somebody leave. She was genuinely upset that she was going home. I think Kate will definitely be keeping in contact with Ina in the future.
So we left the airport and Ina's boyfriend, Blue, was feeling rather heartbroken to see Ina leave. Thomas was consoling him and offering some world class advice on how it's better to have loved and lost than to have never lost at all. The poor bloke, I hope he's alright. Anyhow, the driver dropped us off at Kuta on the main road, Jalan Legian. Let the club drinking festivities begin... urgh.
Skygarden and Bounty were the 2 places that we attended. It was great to be back at Bounty once again, I had previously been there once before with Kate, Emily and Jess Mudge. I was so upset to find out that they don't serve their alcohol in fishbowls anymore!! They now mixed the drinks and put them in a sports drink bottle. How upsettingly Australian is that? *sigh*
So, long story short, we drank a fair shitload and ended up staying in a homestay house for 160,000 Rp for the night. Good times.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Today, Kate taught her last class to all her little cherubs for an hour from 3pm till 4pm. As an outsider that was there purely to take photos of the class, it was amazing to see how autonomous the children's actions were. There were twelve students there that ranged from ages 5 to 10, and they were writing exceptionally legibly, and spoke English better than some of my Aboriginal Australian year 12 students back home. They were using pens and correction fluids, one student even got out of his chair to help Kate give some class handouts to everybody in the room without even being asked to. It was so amazingly inspiring to see Kate teaching these adorable kids, I took a tonne of photos and some great video of kate singing and dancing the Hokey Pokey with her kids. We will be uploading them when we get home of course.
We have 2 more nights left in Bali, so I think last night was the perfect opportunity to check out Kuta while we were here. Now that we are back in Ubud, can you guess where we will end up going to tonight? Hmmm... I don't even think I have to say it.
;)
The true identity of Balinese culture is revealed here in Ubud, not in the 'westernised' streets of Kuta. I don't know how it happened, but I somehow spent 1,000,000 Rupiah in Kuta last night, hangin' with Kate, Thomas and Sadam. It turned out to be a big night in only a small amount of time from 9pm till 2:30am. Intensely paced drinking, I don't recommend it.
Anywho, we will get to that later. Thursday was the day that I spent alone for the majority of the time as Kate was busy busy busy at Starfish for most of the day. So I took the liberty of doing a little shopping whilst I was here in Ubud. Strolling around the Ubud markets on your own might sound intimidating at first, but it's great fun if you bring along a positive attitude to the stall owners. I figured that because I had no idea what the time was all day, I might as well buy a 'genuine Rolex' for 'cheap price'. I spoke to 2 shop owners and they showed me a bunch of watches and some Ray Ban sunglasses. I wanted 1 Rolex and 2 pairs of Ray Ban sunglasses, so let the bartering games begin ladies and gentlemen. Here is the run down of what happened:
1st Offer: 75,000 Rp
Retort: 600,000 Rp
2nd Offer: 125,000 Rp
Retort: 500,000 Rp
3rd Offer: 200,000 Rp
Retort: 450,000 Rp
The final settlement: 400,000 Rp
As the humble reader of this wonderfully insightful Bali blog, I will leave it up to you to judge whether I got a sweet deal or just simply got ripped off. Paul Guy might say I did (hehe), but either way the storemen were nice to me and I had a great chat with them. I was their only customer for the day so far, so I didn't mind the bartering price, they can buy themselves an extra pair of shoes now.
So following that, Kate needed to be picked up and she had finished her day a little earlier than expected, so I hopped on the bike and went to go pick her up out the front of CP. Goddamn I love riding scooters in Ubud. The traffic all works like a messily spun spider web, and it is a great way to become apart of the community here. Kate hops on the back of my bike (and holds on for dear life because she clearly doesn't trust my riding skills) and we head back to the villa for a little nanna nap before the events of the night unfold.
It was also Ina's last day here in Bali after spending 5 months in Indonesia. Ina, Kate, Thomas, Blue, and myself hired a driver and went to the airport to see Ina off for her flight home. Now I've only been here for a week and have missed the developments of Ina and Kate's relationship in the beginning, but I have never seen Kate so sad to see somebody leave. She was genuinely upset that she was going home. I think Kate will definitely be keeping in contact with Ina in the future.
So we left the airport and Ina's boyfriend, Blue, was feeling rather heartbroken to see Ina leave. Thomas was consoling him and offering some world class advice on how it's better to have loved and lost than to have never lost at all. The poor bloke, I hope he's alright. Anyhow, the driver dropped us off at Kuta on the main road, Jalan Legian. Let the club drinking festivities begin... urgh.
Skygarden and Bounty were the 2 places that we attended. It was great to be back at Bounty once again, I had previously been there once before with Kate, Emily and Jess Mudge. I was so upset to find out that they don't serve their alcohol in fishbowls anymore!! They now mixed the drinks and put them in a sports drink bottle. How upsettingly Australian is that? *sigh*
So, long story short, we drank a fair shitload and ended up staying in a homestay house for 160,000 Rp for the night. Good times.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Today, Kate taught her last class to all her little cherubs for an hour from 3pm till 4pm. As an outsider that was there purely to take photos of the class, it was amazing to see how autonomous the children's actions were. There were twelve students there that ranged from ages 5 to 10, and they were writing exceptionally legibly, and spoke English better than some of my Aboriginal Australian year 12 students back home. They were using pens and correction fluids, one student even got out of his chair to help Kate give some class handouts to everybody in the room without even being asked to. It was so amazingly inspiring to see Kate teaching these adorable kids, I took a tonne of photos and some great video of kate singing and dancing the Hokey Pokey with her kids. We will be uploading them when we get home of course.
We have 2 more nights left in Bali, so I think last night was the perfect opportunity to check out Kuta while we were here. Now that we are back in Ubud, can you guess where we will end up going to tonight? Hmmm... I don't even think I have to say it.
;)
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Wednesday - 23rd of February
Today, we find ourselves at a very high priced internet cafe, surrounded by French people Skyping to their French families back home... The privacy of our own villa is now gone thanks to me and a very silly place to put a glass of coke next to a laptop. Can you see the end result? I'm in trouble when I get home... eeeep!
Anyhow, welcome to Wednesday. It's been a great few days to unwind so far in the trip. Yesterday I had a great day with my new Alaskan friend, Thomas, who taught me how to ride a locally hired scooter of my own. We rode around Ubud so I could get the hang of the bike and finding the right balance. It's so easy to get around on, but I'm always aware that you need to be alert 110% of the time, especially on these crazy Balinese roads! Kate was at the language centre all day so Thomas was kind enough to show me the sights.
Thomas and I toured up to the remote rice fields of Ubud to see what is affectionately known as the 'Eat, Pray, Love' house, the house where Elizabeth Gilbert wrote a third of the novel of the same title. It was a small, secluded little hut that was placed right in the middle of an open area of rice fields, such a cool sight to see. Thomas even took the risk of shooting high definition video on his Nikon camera, whilst riding through the streets. It was a very stupid idea at the time, but he pulled it off and got some great footage.
That was my whole day spent learning how to ride a scooter, and it has come in handy because Kate has her own personal TRANSPORTER now :)
Today hasn't quite been as busy due to massive amounts of bucketing tropical rain stopping us from wandering and exploring. Kate had to teach her kids today and was slightly late due to monsoonal rain stopping us from riding the scooter in death defying weather. Eventually the rain stopped and she made her way to the language centre, which left me to hang out at the villa and take it easy until she got back.
We've been eating at a lot of local Warung's and the food is immensley cheap and so tasty. One part of this trip that I've noticed in comparision to other previous trips is that we havn't over-indulged on food, which is the worst feeling when it comes to the end of the trip. At this rate, we're only eating 1 or 2 meals a day... and the rest of our dietry supplements consist of sweet, sweet Bintang :)
Tonight we are having about 10 people over to the villa to throw a farewell party of Ina. She has been in Bali for 5 months and has finally come to the end of her trip, she leaves for Germany on Thursday. Most people that know her are very sad to see her go, she has a very bright and bubbly personality. It's always sad to see a person that has those qualities leave, but as they say, all good things must come to an end.
Now we have to stop off at a local convienience store to pick up some bintangs to kick start a massive night tonight. We're gonna be sporting sore heads tomorrow, that's fo sho!!
Anyhow, welcome to Wednesday. It's been a great few days to unwind so far in the trip. Yesterday I had a great day with my new Alaskan friend, Thomas, who taught me how to ride a locally hired scooter of my own. We rode around Ubud so I could get the hang of the bike and finding the right balance. It's so easy to get around on, but I'm always aware that you need to be alert 110% of the time, especially on these crazy Balinese roads! Kate was at the language centre all day so Thomas was kind enough to show me the sights.
Thomas and I toured up to the remote rice fields of Ubud to see what is affectionately known as the 'Eat, Pray, Love' house, the house where Elizabeth Gilbert wrote a third of the novel of the same title. It was a small, secluded little hut that was placed right in the middle of an open area of rice fields, such a cool sight to see. Thomas even took the risk of shooting high definition video on his Nikon camera, whilst riding through the streets. It was a very stupid idea at the time, but he pulled it off and got some great footage.
That was my whole day spent learning how to ride a scooter, and it has come in handy because Kate has her own personal TRANSPORTER now :)
Today hasn't quite been as busy due to massive amounts of bucketing tropical rain stopping us from wandering and exploring. Kate had to teach her kids today and was slightly late due to monsoonal rain stopping us from riding the scooter in death defying weather. Eventually the rain stopped and she made her way to the language centre, which left me to hang out at the villa and take it easy until she got back.
We've been eating at a lot of local Warung's and the food is immensley cheap and so tasty. One part of this trip that I've noticed in comparision to other previous trips is that we havn't over-indulged on food, which is the worst feeling when it comes to the end of the trip. At this rate, we're only eating 1 or 2 meals a day... and the rest of our dietry supplements consist of sweet, sweet Bintang :)
Tonight we are having about 10 people over to the villa to throw a farewell party of Ina. She has been in Bali for 5 months and has finally come to the end of her trip, she leaves for Germany on Thursday. Most people that know her are very sad to see her go, she has a very bright and bubbly personality. It's always sad to see a person that has those qualities leave, but as they say, all good things must come to an end.
Now we have to stop off at a local convienience store to pick up some bintangs to kick start a massive night tonight. We're gonna be sporting sore heads tomorrow, that's fo sho!!
Monday, February 21, 2011
Day X, Day Y, Day 'Dave'
It's been a whole 8 days and there's been no sign of an update on the blogosphere. I say that's poor form on your behalf, I blame teaching, Elise, Balinese culture and your awesome awesome villa...
Hello world, it's Dave here, writing the blog on Kate's behalf now that I'm finally here to share the tail end of her trip! She tells me that she's been totally flat out with her teaching duties and just having a great time with Elise as soon as she gets home from the Starfish Language Centre. I'll fill you in on the details and the 'goings on' of today, as for the rest of the week that has been omitted, I think Kate just simply cannot recall the events of her endless nights at this so called 'CP Lounge'.
The 5 hour flight over had no dramas for me, infact I had a bit of time to think about what I would potentially write for my debut on Frangipani & Clove. Below is a little memo of what events I thought would unfold when I landed:
What causes more of a problem with travel, scattered embers of volcanic ash in the air, or the congestion of the common cold?
Just as Kate had a travel scare before her departure to Bali, I too had one, as I became struck down with sickness 3 days before my holiday. You might argue that the severity of my circumstances wasn't as extreme as Kate's, but still... being sick surely sucks!
I've loaded up on cold n' flu tablets to help remedy this situation, in fact, I've probably got enough to tick 'yes' to declare possession of narcotics and substances! Hopefully customs won't question it (and they didn't), I don't speak Bahasa at all.
As channel [V] provides the soundtrack to my flight, I can't help but wonder about the safety of my new Cole Clark acoustic guitar in the cargo hold. I only bought it 3 days ago, and if it breaks, well it's my own fault as I brought it along "at my own risk". And who knows, you might just get a song about it, much like this dude wrote.
Meeting Kate at Ngurah Rai International Airport will be a memory to treasure for many years to come. After spending almost a month apart from each other, I've learnt that I can survive on my own, but what would be the point if you've got no one to share it with? I've been looking forward to catching up with her and nitpicking her brain to see what she's learnt about teaching, learning, independence, identity, confidence, and most of all, living.
And I saw just that.
Kate has acclimatised herself to the culture here fantastically. I've found myself worrying about little things that she just shrugs off her shoulders, like having the right amount of money to pay the cab driver, what to do with keys at homestay houses etc. Her Indonesian is becoming more fluent as she talks to the locals. She is confident with knowing her way around Bali. She has been telling me about her communication skills with the kids at the language centre. She has learnt a tonne of things that she couldn't learn back home just yet. and I'm really proud of her :)
Anyhow... so where was I? Ah yes! My flight.
So Kate and I meet up at the airport and we hop into her drivers car and go straight to Kuta beach for a fun day spent with Ina, Blue and Sadam. We spent the day wallowing in the shore of the beach, playing beach volleyball and getting ourselves some henna tattoos. Kate got a pretty butterfly on her ankle and I got a nasty scorpion on my left arm. They'll exist for a few weeks, so you'll be able to see em when we get home. The sun at the point was beaming down hard on the beach, which set us in to fatigue mode, so we said our goodbyes to the others (followed by a "we'll see you at CP tonight") and got a driver to take us to Ubud. I severely underestimated the distance between Kuta and Ubud, as it took us around an hour to get there. The drive built up the suspense of seeing the villa for the first time (for me at least), and it was well worth the wait. This villa is 5 star luxury in the middle of the equivalent of Oodna Datta! Such an amazing atmosphere with sights, sounds and energy that is like no other tourist area of Bali. The words and pictures that Kate has posted thus far certainly do not capture the essence of what this place really feels like as it could almost be described as a 'money can't buy' holiday destination (if that makes any sense).
So after a nice swim in the private pool, we find ourselves (finally) up to date with the 'goings on' here in Bali. If Kate has the energy, she will definitely post another update real soon, but otherwise, you'll be hearing from me again very soon :)
Hello world, it's Dave here, writing the blog on Kate's behalf now that I'm finally here to share the tail end of her trip! She tells me that she's been totally flat out with her teaching duties and just having a great time with Elise as soon as she gets home from the Starfish Language Centre. I'll fill you in on the details and the 'goings on' of today, as for the rest of the week that has been omitted, I think Kate just simply cannot recall the events of her endless nights at this so called 'CP Lounge'.
The 5 hour flight over had no dramas for me, infact I had a bit of time to think about what I would potentially write for my debut on Frangipani & Clove. Below is a little memo of what events I thought would unfold when I landed:
What causes more of a problem with travel, scattered embers of volcanic ash in the air, or the congestion of the common cold?
Just as Kate had a travel scare before her departure to Bali, I too had one, as I became struck down with sickness 3 days before my holiday. You might argue that the severity of my circumstances wasn't as extreme as Kate's, but still... being sick surely sucks!
I've loaded up on cold n' flu tablets to help remedy this situation, in fact, I've probably got enough to tick 'yes' to declare possession of narcotics and substances! Hopefully customs won't question it (and they didn't), I don't speak Bahasa at all.
As channel [V] provides the soundtrack to my flight, I can't help but wonder about the safety of my new Cole Clark acoustic guitar in the cargo hold. I only bought it 3 days ago, and if it breaks, well it's my own fault as I brought it along "at my own risk". And who knows, you might just get a song about it, much like this dude wrote.
Meeting Kate at Ngurah Rai International Airport will be a memory to treasure for many years to come. After spending almost a month apart from each other, I've learnt that I can survive on my own, but what would be the point if you've got no one to share it with? I've been looking forward to catching up with her and nitpicking her brain to see what she's learnt about teaching, learning, independence, identity, confidence, and most of all, living.
And I saw just that.
Kate has acclimatised herself to the culture here fantastically. I've found myself worrying about little things that she just shrugs off her shoulders, like having the right amount of money to pay the cab driver, what to do with keys at homestay houses etc. Her Indonesian is becoming more fluent as she talks to the locals. She is confident with knowing her way around Bali. She has been telling me about her communication skills with the kids at the language centre. She has learnt a tonne of things that she couldn't learn back home just yet. and I'm really proud of her :)
Anyhow... so where was I? Ah yes! My flight.
So Kate and I meet up at the airport and we hop into her drivers car and go straight to Kuta beach for a fun day spent with Ina, Blue and Sadam. We spent the day wallowing in the shore of the beach, playing beach volleyball and getting ourselves some henna tattoos. Kate got a pretty butterfly on her ankle and I got a nasty scorpion on my left arm. They'll exist for a few weeks, so you'll be able to see em when we get home. The sun at the point was beaming down hard on the beach, which set us in to fatigue mode, so we said our goodbyes to the others (followed by a "we'll see you at CP tonight") and got a driver to take us to Ubud. I severely underestimated the distance between Kuta and Ubud, as it took us around an hour to get there. The drive built up the suspense of seeing the villa for the first time (for me at least), and it was well worth the wait. This villa is 5 star luxury in the middle of the equivalent of Oodna Datta! Such an amazing atmosphere with sights, sounds and energy that is like no other tourist area of Bali. The words and pictures that Kate has posted thus far certainly do not capture the essence of what this place really feels like as it could almost be described as a 'money can't buy' holiday destination (if that makes any sense).
So after a nice swim in the private pool, we find ourselves (finally) up to date with the 'goings on' here in Bali. If Kate has the energy, she will definitely post another update real soon, but otherwise, you'll be hearing from me again very soon :)
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Day 13
So, day 13 really picks up where my last blog left off... the night of the 12th. We got a driver to pick all of us girls up and take us to dinner. Dagmara had recommended a restaurant on Jl Raya called Nomad so we went there. Wow. I had the tastiest tenderloin steak with mushrooms and vegetables, and Elise had the most amazing looking chilli crab. It was a really great dinner, especially for Jess and Ali's last night out. Then we got our transport to drop us off near the football field so that we could keep drinking. Ali was still feeling a bit under the weather so she opted to go home, but Jess, Elise and I went on to XL lounge just across from the football field. It's a pretty trendy looking place I suppose. We had a couple of drinks, got seated next to these two older Australian guys from Melbourne. One was pretty cool, we all chatted a bit about being an Australian but not being a "Kuta" Aussie... The other guy was pretty drunk and we kinda kept clear of him. They came over to CP with us afterwards though because we knew it'd be busy there and they'd have fun. Aren't we good customers, bringing in more people? hehehe
Anyway, a couple of hours at CP turned into the whole night there, and before we knew it, we were the last ones in the bar (again). We were all still having a good time though so we decided to invite some friends over for a late night/early morning swim at my villa. It was pretty cool, and the least that we could offer our rides home for the night.
Being that we had a mammoth night out, none of us were really up at a decent hour the next day, but midday was the cutoff for sleep because like it or not, the girls had their last day ahead of them. We organised another driver and drove off to lunch in Ubud- Mojo's Flying Burritos. Yum! And a carafe of Sangria to keep the hangover at bay for a little while longer. Then we walked down Jl. Raya, went into a little Silver shop called Studio Perak. Kept walking, went through the Ubud Markets which was fun for the girls to see. Both had the chance to barter (i think it was for the first time...), but within two minutes of being in there I was already so sick of the tourists. Some can just be so pushy and rude... And yes, I said tourists, not the sellers. :)
We kept walking around, Jess and I decided to get a manicure on Jl Monkey Forest which was a really nice, relaxing experience for us. The girls picked up a few little gifts for family and then we made our way home. The driver taking the girls to the airport was due at 6.30, so we had enough time for them to do their last minute packing, and a quick dangle of the legs in the pool, and then they were off. It was sad, but I know I will see them back home in Adelaide in two weeks. I was so happy and lucky to have them come and visit me while I am here, it just makes my time here so much more memorable. :)
Next was dinner with Dagmara at a place called Mangga Madu. Pretty tasty, but I was still so tired from the night/morning before, as was Elise, that we both decided to stay in for the night, and get a decent amount of sleep. Which we did. And that brings us to today. It's Valentines day, and I was woken up at 4.54am by a Valentines msg from Australia... Thanks Dave. ;)
Got a bit of work to do today so that I can hopefully have a good night at this Charity gig tonight. Should be fun, but now it's time for work!
xx
Anyway, a couple of hours at CP turned into the whole night there, and before we knew it, we were the last ones in the bar (again). We were all still having a good time though so we decided to invite some friends over for a late night/early morning swim at my villa. It was pretty cool, and the least that we could offer our rides home for the night.
Being that we had a mammoth night out, none of us were really up at a decent hour the next day, but midday was the cutoff for sleep because like it or not, the girls had their last day ahead of them. We organised another driver and drove off to lunch in Ubud- Mojo's Flying Burritos. Yum! And a carafe of Sangria to keep the hangover at bay for a little while longer. Then we walked down Jl. Raya, went into a little Silver shop called Studio Perak. Kept walking, went through the Ubud Markets which was fun for the girls to see. Both had the chance to barter (i think it was for the first time...), but within two minutes of being in there I was already so sick of the tourists. Some can just be so pushy and rude... And yes, I said tourists, not the sellers. :)
We kept walking around, Jess and I decided to get a manicure on Jl Monkey Forest which was a really nice, relaxing experience for us. The girls picked up a few little gifts for family and then we made our way home. The driver taking the girls to the airport was due at 6.30, so we had enough time for them to do their last minute packing, and a quick dangle of the legs in the pool, and then they were off. It was sad, but I know I will see them back home in Adelaide in two weeks. I was so happy and lucky to have them come and visit me while I am here, it just makes my time here so much more memorable. :)
Next was dinner with Dagmara at a place called Mangga Madu. Pretty tasty, but I was still so tired from the night/morning before, as was Elise, that we both decided to stay in for the night, and get a decent amount of sleep. Which we did. And that brings us to today. It's Valentines day, and I was woken up at 4.54am by a Valentines msg from Australia... Thanks Dave. ;)
Got a bit of work to do today so that I can hopefully have a good night at this Charity gig tonight. Should be fun, but now it's time for work!
xx
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