A Change of Scenery
Bali is hot. That isn't to say that Singapore isn't hot, because they both are. The difference is, in Singapore, I spend most of the prime daylight hours indoor kept frozen by central air conditioning. Thus, it wasn't a big surprise that I spent my first day getting a healthy dose of sunstroke. The beating sun does something to a person, the sunlight blinds your senses and the heat dulls your mind. Beautiful as the beach below may be, I was desperately seeking shade by this point.
Windy enough to fly a kite the shape of a sailing ship.
I felt out of my element in Bali too. After enough holidays to Thailand, Malaysia, and well having lived in a fair number of different cities now, I have forgotten how it feels like to be alienated by a new culture. The morning I arrived, I tried to buy a hat to protect me from the sun, at which I failed miserably. A woman in a stall gave me a price but I was confused, irritated by the sun, not able to quickly convert her offer into currency that made sense (the rupiah to sing dollar is 7000 to 1, all those zeros threw me for a loop), nor was I able to ascertain how much room I had to bargain, or how to communicate this. I gave up then, knowing that I would get a better sense for this later, but mostly I was caught by surprise that I would go through this at all. Over the five years I've spent moving from place to place, travelling through different cultures, how did I get so easily unsettled in a tourist trap like Bali? I guess it's just as well to learn a bit of humility now and again.
One thing I noticed here was that the food was different somehow...we received a welcome fruit spritzer upon our arrival and I took a big slurp, and then almost choked on it. No sugar! It was so tart, and I'm so used to overly sweet drinks now in Asia. This was a pattern that was repeated often at the more local places, and in a way it felt healthier, a break from too much refined sugar. The hotel did a pretty nice job with breakfasts I have to say though. This place only has a dozen rooms, so no large-scale buffet menu here. We had our pick of fresh juices, homemade jams, fruit, yogurt, crepes, breads, and eggs and bacon. Just typing this makes me drool.
First course before the arrival of crepes and eggs and bacon.
The seafood was also nice and fresh too. We were staying in Jimbaran, an area known for seafood dinners on the beach, which we enjoyed twice. Of course, J loved the grilled corn vendor the most, no surprise there.
My (mostly sour) mint, ginger, and lemon drink with a calamari sandwich, one of the best sandwiches I've had in a long time.
Being that Bali is popular with tourists, I didn't find food extraordinarily cheaper than say Singapore, but it was nice to have a lot of fresh seafood available, and being on holiday, you get to try the foods you might not ordinarily go for. Sugar withdrawal aside, I ate very well in Bali, much to the chagrin of my bikini. What can I say, you only live once =D