A day of logistics

Getting ready for our trip to Lombok, items to purchase, transport to be arranged, bags to be packed

Another day of dolce far niente

The most exhausting activity has been walking along the beach, plonking our hot derrieres at a new watering hole, the Woobar at the Hotel W, enjoying two refreshing non alcoholic drinks and watching the amazing spectacle the ocean was providing. The surf was tundering ashore, with waves colliding and creating amazingly tall water castles, shooting high into the air and lasting only a matter of seconds before collapsing again into the bubbling surface of the ocean. Such a hard life!

An afternoon in Sanur

It was time for another excursion, out of our familiar territory. A straight trip across the island, through Denpasar, takes you to Sanur. The trip itself was an experience, giving us our first glimpses of Denpasar and what a surprise! Our road leads directly into the capital of Bali, and slowly transforms from a suburban road into a beautiful tree lined boulevard to the heart of this city. Government buildings appear and disappear either side, parks come and go, shopping malls galore, beautiful family compounds (homes) with the most ornate temples at their entrances, just spectacular. To top it all off, the amazing monument to the struggle of the Balinese made us have an impromptu stop. It is an impressive structure, rising high above any building, with its intricate stone work all the way to the very top, narrowing into a point, as if touching the sky. It is a delicate and beautiful art work despite its sheer size, set in the centre of a large park, full of people enjoying a walk, kids running and youth playing soccer. Half an hour later, we arrived at the beach town of Sanur. The set-up in its principle is the same: beach, followed by the main road with shops, cafés and restaurants, hotels everywhere. The big difference is in the vibe! The beach is white, instead of the volcanic black sand we have over here; calm waters, instead of crushing waves, as the island provides the perfect wind break; gently rocking fishing boats anchored just meters offshore; peace and tranquillity instead of a beach full of tourists and sellers. A beautiful paved walk follows the narrow beach, and we enjoyed it immensely, as it took us through perfectly manicured high-end resorts with their guests sunning themselves on their “guest only” beach, glimpses of beautiful private villas with spectacular gardens overlooking the ocean, past fishing boats drying on the sand and lots of empty stretches of sand. So much so, we just had to jump into the calm blue waters and enjoy the serenity. We expected a different beach, we found a different world.

The jewel lost its shine

Nook? Warung Cobek more like it! After our experience at Nook, a most enjoyable dining experience, we felt more comfortable trying a typical warung (the Indonesian “diner”), typically run by a family who cook a selection of dishes which are ready by 11am and then kept for the rest of the day at room temperature, for the enjoyment of family members and customers alike. The usual dishes are: boiled curry egg, various delicious vegetables, deep fried crispy fish, curry chicken, tuna, and the most famous beef rendang, with a selection of white and brown rice. These are all kept in a glass display cabinet (at a market these are probably more open then at warungs targeting the Western clientele). There is one of these warungs on our way to the beach, overlooking rice paddies. After a lazy sleep in, we decided it was time to try it. We were the only customers, and the owners were delighted in having us and answering all our questions as to what each dish was. We tried the boiled eggs, the spinach, the potatoes with chicken hearth, the corn fritters, the crispy deep fried fish (of which you eat bone and all), the home cooked chilli sauce (not for the Swiss lad) and we tell you, the food was OUT OF THIS WORLD! It was a taste extravaganza! Dishes we have had before in Australia and elsewhere, but here they tasted so authentic, so astronomically delicious! And the cost of both our meals? A$5.50 total for both meals! Once again, following our instinct and taking the risk of experiencing the local food, at a local venue, has provided us with another experience of a life time! Thank you Warung Cobek, our Indonesia Food Safari just got better!

We found a new jewel in tropical paradise – Nook!

We had been told by our tour guide of the new excitement among the local foodies: a quaint location serving traditional Indonesian cuisine. This was confirmed by friends from back home we bumped into, early one morning on the beach (small world). Our moment had come! We waited till the sun had just waved us all farewell, and off we went, riding in the dim light of the early evening, down the all familiar road to the coast, and turned at the tiny sign, hardly visible, that we passed so many times, all it reads is: Nook. The instant we took the turn, we found ourselves on a magical, windy, single lane road, elevated over lush green rice paddies either side of us, and a cluster of lights in the distance, our destination! We arrived at the entrance of this little building, in the midst of vivid green rice plants. No walls to lock us out of these magical surroundings, no cars suffocating us with their exhaust fumes, only open windows allowing us to take advantage of the cleverly positioned flood lights cutting the darkness to reveal the serenity of the rice paddies. We chose to sit at a corner bench, on the edge of the building; it felt as if we were right in the fields themselves (luckily we had covered ourselves in plenty of mosquito repellent). The menu did present a couple of amusing surprises: Zurich Geschnetzeltes, Austrian Schmarren and a few other central European oddities. Don’t ask us who these dishes found their way here!? We chose the appropriate dishes: Nasi Kampur (selection of meats and veggie dishes with rice) and Ayam Betutu (Indonesian spiced chicken). Nothing short of amazing. After enjoying this feast we just had to order deserts, as darkness settled in in the distance, with only the lights from our magical castle giving some colour over the fields, crickets and frogs providing the right background music. We had Dadar Gulung, Indonesia’s favourite desert, which is warm pandan flavoured crepe, filled with fresh shredded coconut, sweetened with palm sugar syrup: decadent! This is a must for anyone who is on an Indonesian food safari, as these two lads are! We left with full bellies, departing the magical island and returning to the hustle of the main street, as if it all were a dream. We know we’ll find our way back again!

We found our “groove”

It has been 2 weeks since our arrival and it feels to us as if we have been here over a month. We have our routine: waking up with the sun rise and the roosters, working out by the beach, healthy Asian breakfast or cheesy omelette or just plain toast, deciding which beach to go to, exploring our surroundings, and just enjoying being here. Our neck pains, interrupted sleeps and very early rises… all gone! We are enjoying every minute of it and look forward to every minute to come.

“If anyone slaps you on the cheek, turn to them the other cheek also…” – don’t think so!?

These 2 lads are good Roman Catholic boys, even if the Roman Curia may not agree with our sexual orientation. Our growing up has been the usual Sunday church attendance and a healthy upbringing by our parents, with a good dose of Roman Catholic ideals. Part of this upbringing is not to lower yourself to the level of your enemies, rise above them. “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth…” being wrong and “… if anyone slaps you on the cheek, turn to them the other cheek also…” being the right behaviour as a good Catholic. That may be a very honourable ideal, but in a changed, overpopulated world, if you follow these beliefs by the letter, every day, you may end up at the end of the queue. Again, it may help that the teachings say: “…the first will be last and the last will be first…” but we say no! Not always is this the appropriate reaction! There are times when one has to make a stand. Never was this more appropriate then today. These 2 lads had a most relaxing day, partaking in some essential retail therapy, followed by a late afternoon visit to our old friend, the Mozaic Beach Club. Being Sunday, all the expats were in attendance, with their kiddies of all ages. The club was busy as never seen before. Not to worry, these two lads found themselves two sunbeds by the pool and enjoyed two Bintang beers, whilst jumping into the water to refresh. Later in the afternoon, we were asked if we wished to move to the front daybeds, facing the beach, and accepted to do so, as our area was being invaded by more and more expat families. During our process of assembling our belongings, three teenage boys on the way to the upstairs restaurant needed to get passed these 2 most attractive gay lads, and the smirk on their faces clearly reflected their retarded thinking. The passage way was obviously not wide enough for 5 people, hence either the 3 boys or the 2 lads needed to move. This Swiss lads is placid and docile as a calm hippo, headstrong as a mule, and oh so dangerous as an angry hippo, and will most certainly not move when our person or character is being challenged. The juveniles moved into a single file, once they felt their challenge was going to end in defeat. Their smirk of course unchanged. Water over a duck’s back for the Swiss lad, but fuel to the fire of the hot blooded Latino lad. The move to the front row daybeds was otherwise uneventful, except for the head turns caused as these two stunning lads glided effortlessly and full of style towards the top spot in the club, in their stunning shorts and fashionable sunglasses. The Latino lad was still fuming and the steam was clearly visible rising from his ears and nostrils. The diplomatic Swiss quickly ordered two more Bintang beers and redirected the conversation to the most stunning sun, lowering itself into the ocean. But a glance towards the 3 boys made the hippo turn! Their glare and smirk towards these 2 lads had not changed and they were oozing juvenile ignorance and disrespect. A hippo is as quick out of water as it is in it, and just as fierce once made angry. Sunglasses back on, suck that tummy in to look just as stunning and super ripped as possible, the Swiss hippo made the attack towards the unassuming boys. Upon reaching them it stopped right in front of them and uttered: “If you boys have a problem, you tell it to my face directly.” And placidly returned to its partner, as the parents uttered some questions towards their young ones. The two lads were quite happy having stood their ground and having made it clear that we shall not be rolled over or brushed aside. The Bintang tasted better than ever. Shortly thereafter, the mother of one of the boys, arrived, boys in tow, apologising for her juvenile delinquent’s actions and that they were not raised to act in such manner. The teenage boys were asked to utter an apology to these two lads! Victory never tasted sweeter, thinking at how they must have felt, hormones and all pumping through their bodies, being dragged by their mother to do so and having to apologies at a public place. Oh how we love not turning the other cheek all the time!