Bali trip ending

Okay, just to clear some things up. I asked some friends around Kuta Beach Resort (where I have been staying) and my friend Eddy told me that any time you see an accident you just walk away and never help. The exact opposite of what I did last week when trying to help a motorcycle accident. He told me that when you try and help a local they will flip the situation around and blame everything on you. I'm a westerner and they think I have millions of dollars, so if they blame it on me, I can pay for the hospital bill. What a bunch of suckers I tell you. Blasphemy! Oh well, I learned my lesson and I will never help a soul again (just joking but I guess not a local). I know, I'm an ass hole.

Well, my time in Bali is about over. I've been here for almost a month and packing my bags and heading to Thailand. I'm getting pretty excited for this trip. Lots of my friends have been there and have been telling me places to go, things to see, etc. Only problem is its like telling someone where to go in Vegas. You get there and there are too many things to do. So, I've made the smallest itinerary possible and I'm sure that will disappear right when I get into Bangkok. Which is fine with me. That is how the trip has been this whole time and its worked out fantastic.

The past 3 weeks have been all surfing like you probably know by now. My friend Eddy and the group of friends from England live to surf. Two of the friends are pro surfers. Since I have been staying in Suka Beach Inn I have become good friends with these guys and girls. Luckily, they have been taking me surfing and showing me surf spots that I couldn't find/heard of. One of the places is called Canggu. This drive takes about 30 minutes but cuts left and right into random streets, unpaved roads and mind blowing rice terraces that surround you on this trail. Truly amazing drive that you get to do while on the search for some waves. When you least suspect it, the rice pattys end and opens up into this small beach. On top, they built this small pier that overlooks the ocean. Its surrounded by some restaurants and usually filled with people at sunset to watch surfers and eat some food. Great atmosphere and environment. The beach itself is pretty cool. It offers a reef and sand break. Depending on the swell you can pick and choose where you want to go. Problem is this break is filled with sea urchin, so if you accidentally stand up in shallow water your probably gonna get stung. On top of that the water is filled with this stinging sea lice. Those don't hurt but sting constantly and are a nuisance. Anyways the past week there has been really good. Sweet waves, warm water and good people. Definitely recommend going to this break.

Besides that the day is pretty standard like I have said before. I've yet to talk about the food out here though ( I think). Lots and lots of rice and noodles. A favorite of mine is Mie Goreng. Its oyster sauce, noodles, green veggies and some other stuff that I have no idea what they put in. Maybe is chicken? I donno but it tasted great. Other food that I have been eating at least twice a day are these buffet style restaurants. You walk up and pick and choose what kind of food you want. Typically, I get white rice, potatoes, corn, prawns (deep fried and they leave the whole entire body still attached, shell and everything, there really good!), veggies, curry, etc. The list really goes on and its dirt cheap for this food. Super good. I have eaten at this place every single day since I have been here.

What else, oh yea. I was at this club the other night. Might I add it was free drinks all night for us westerners, and was dancing with some random girls and noticed this super old guy, I'm guessing around 80, no joke and dancing the night away. I mean, he was that guy. He was the life of the club. Arms pumping in the air, beer in the other hand and his legs were moving like Michael Jackson. I was blown away. I couldn't even dance anymore. He took all my moves and remixed them into better ones. Oh well, it made my night and I laughed so hard I almost poo-ed all that mie-go-wrong right out of me. Well, I guess I did anyway b/c it happens quite often after I eat this food.

Some other things I haven't talked about are the people in Bali. There nice, really nice but they gotta make a living out here and that results in me not liking lots of them. Every 10 feet someone asks you if you want transport, bintang, tattoo, etc. My favorite one is that all of them have these trades. There magicians. If you say no to transport then they start to offer everything you can imagin. They probably do surgery folks! Not even kidding. I'll be wearing my sunglasses and this guy will grab your arm and be like "sunglasses? you want sunglasses?" I get so confused b/c he knows I have them on.

There are these steps that I have been hanging out at. Its right outside a convenience store and lots of people hang out here at night to have some bintangs (beer) and then go out to the club. Right across the street is covered in run down stores that sell t-shirts, etc. Stuff you don't need, get it? But this one guy, everyday sits outside and points his lazer pointer and ignites his taser. It scares the ba-jee-bees out of people. Sometimes, at night I have seen him go up to guys and actually shock them with the taser! Messed up. I'm sure its on the lowest settings but still, if he did that to me he would have heard what a sailor sounds like and maybe a fist in his eye. But that would take me to jail so I wouldn't do that.

So overall, Bali has treated me so well. I now know the whole island like the back of my hand, really well. I got lost left and right and but I could show you this island in the best way possible. Kuta is filled with small random alleyways that are shortcuts to the surrounding roads. I know them folks. I could even be a guide of some sort but that would make me one of those locals and its too much competition for me to handle. I'll stick with being a tourist. I've eaten some amazing fruit, met some great new friends and have experienced a culture like no other. Can't say I'll miss the hecklers at the shops and the lack of art stores (I'm running out of pens and supplies) but I will truly miss the island of Bali. Next time I come here I will explore more of the thousand islands of Indonesia.

Next stop: Thailand! Bali is just a warm up for what Bangkok will be like.



P.S.

My iPhone just bugged out on me and got stuck on the apple logo when rebooting. It will stay there for hours and not do anything. I asked around to see if there was a apple store and got pointed to "central" where there is a mall. Far from a mall but I did walk by this tiny stand that sold phones: this was the apple store. I showed the guy my problem and he pointed me to his real store out in Denpasar. I drove out there, found the real mac store and asked the workers how to solve my problem. They had no idea, said there tech guy works tomorrow and to come in the next day. From there I went on Google, in the store and figured out how to fix the problem. Why did I go to the Mac store when there is Google. Oh well, now i'm sitting here trying to restore my phone and download the update which is a big file. It says it will take 4 hours to download. What a drag. Hopefully this works...