Many Monkeys

10 Days in Indonesia

We haven't even been to the official sacred forest yet and we've already seen many monkeys. And they were quite cheeky.

It wasn't exactly planned this way but each new country has been progressively more spicy (with the food to match).

Fiji: Mild
New Zealand: Mild
Australia: Mild
Singapore: Mild
Indonesia: Medium

As soon as we got off the plane in Denpasar, we realized that things were going to be a little more hectic from this point forward. The path from the terminal to the exit was a gauntlet of cash only entry visas and offers of "hotel?" or "taksi?" Hello, developing nation.

After arriving at our Kuta hotel late in the evening, I headed straight for the pool and had a banana milkshake at the swim-up bar. It was the perfect antidote to the hostile sweaty mess of the airport.

We weren't keen to linger in Kuta (not much on offer besides fast food joints and a rubbish-laden beach) so we flew to Lombok the next day for a mere $38.00. This was more like it. Our taxi zoomed past rice paddies, old mosques, and not a single KFC. Our hotel, Puri Mas, was fabulous - certainly one of the nicest places we've stayed on the trip so far. The private bungalow was gorgeous, the food was fresh and fabulous, the service was incredible, and don't even get Susan started on the welcome drink. I broke my sunglasses and they actually went to the store to buy me some superglue. C'mon.


After a day spent exploring the Puri Mas Village (a sister resort to ours) and their assortment of exotic animals, we arranged a diving trip to the Gili islands. We set out early the next day with our cutie-pie guide named Win. The boat was no Ocean Quest and the gear was a bit funky but the diving was superb. We saw several reef sharks and two very large hawksbill turtles. It was our first experience with "drift diving" which is actually quite lovely once you accept the fact that you're not going to be able to linger with the cool lionfish that you've just spotted under a coral shelf. Just let him go - there will be others.


We spent a few very quiet nights on Gili Air, punctuated with a night spent watching the worst James Bond movie ever, License to Kill. I've always defended Timothy Dalton but it's over between us after that steaming pile of poo.

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Conspicuous Consumption

Three Days in Singapore

I had only a few preconceived notions of this place. Something vague about a night safari, a beautiful old colonial hotel, and a ban on Hubba Bubba.

It turns out that Singapore is basically a giant shopping mall with a staggering array of things to purchase, from Prada to $3.00 stretchy shorts. Each mall has at least one food court with all manner of delectable options. Starting with a Chinese-style hotel breakfast of fried rice, fried noodles, and salty dumplings and moving on to sushi, yellow curry, chili crab and gelato, I tucked in for the "eat" segment of my journey.

The tastiest meal was the one that we prepared with our new friends, Arnaud and Puy. We feasted on skewers of shrimp and veggies, Japanese pears with soft cheese and a whole chicken, feet included. After a few cooling laps in their enormous swimming pool, we played poker and drank until the wee hours - very expat chic.

The population of the city is about 70% Chinese and since it was their New Year during our visit, I almost felt like I was in Beijing. Red lanterns were strung up everywhere and stalls just outside our hotel were selling mandarin oranges, fireworks, and lotus blossoms.

There was a large signboard outside our hotel that listed the fortunes for each zodiac sign. Here's an excerpt from mine (Ox):
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Fortune for 2008 - Year of the Rat
Overall fortune is stable and thing is going up steadily. As long with proper plan and do not rush into it, any difficulty will come with a solution. But slightly poor in memory and mislay document easily. Therefore, always keep a look out on the important document and property. Or else loss for sure. (Not what you want to hear on a RTW trip!) Relations with people are extremely good and seize every opportunity with every contact. As every contact give you a chance to create miracle. Treasure it, what is called: good chances are hard to seek. Therefore, success or not it all depends on you.

Love
Rather smooth. Singles will have chance of meeting someone desirable. However, do not be recklessly involve in other love relationships because of good love luck. You must cherish yourself or else there will be adverse effects.
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Ah, so true.

And speaking of cherishing yourself, I did a bit of lingerie shopping in Singapore. Since I lost my beige brassiere somewhere in Australia, I hit the malls in search of a suitable replacement. I have exacting standards when it comes to underwear and Takashimaya did not let me down. After rigorous assistance from no fewer than four shop ladies, I found a beautiful "big girl" Wacoal bra with a sparkly little florette between the cups. It's important to treat yourself a bit after wearing the same outfit for five days in a row.

The rest of the time was spent wandering around the intriguing ethnic areas of little India and Arab Street. We visited the Sultan Mosque, which made for some fun photos of us in the very flattering robes they asked us to wear. It was interesting to observe the packs of young Chinese and Indian schoolchildren on a field trip to an Islamic house of worship. Apologies for the terrible metaphor (it's been a long hot day in Ubud) but Singapore was truly an all-you-can-eat buffet of Eastern cultures.

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Eat, Pray, SCUBA

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After years of merely fantasizing about it, I finally went ahead and got SCUBA certified. The opportunity to dive on the Great Barrier Reef was too incredible to pass up. Snorkel, schmorkel. It's so much more awesome down at 22 meters with the big fishies and the ability to sit cross-legged on the sandy bottom.

I felt the most nervous during the classroom sessions. There were vivid descriptions of the extra pressure on body cavities and the multiple ways to incur serious bodily harm. Also, there was a lot more math than I expected.

Once in the pool, though, my amphibiousness (amphibiosity?) took over and I was officially in love. I mean, breathing underwater? C'mon. It's an incredible feeling. I was worried that it would kill my ears because of past experiences diving down while snorkeling but the trick is to just pop them constantly as you descend.

We completed our training out on the reef which I'm guessing kicks the ass of certain freezing cold Puget Sounds I could mention. The visibility on our first dive was about 20 meters and the water was bathtub temperature. We wore wetsuits for the first few outings and then switched to some very Star Trek thin lycra stinger suits. I had some difficulty learning to achieve neutral buoyancy but once I got it, the elation really set in. I was flying amongst brightly colored fish, ornate coral, sharks (small ones, far away - as they should be), stingrays and nudibranchs. A side note about nudibranchs: they are hermaphrodites and to determine who will be the unlucky female/child-bearer, they duel with their penises. True. It is not true, however, that you should pee on a friend who has been stung by a jellyfish. Vinegar is the only way to go.

We did a night dive about eight hours after getting certified. I was certain there'd be packs of giant sharks circling overhead but no such luck. It was definitely spooky, though.

We're all very excited to continue diving throughout this amazing adventure. Egypt is supposed to be quite good.

Australia

Bloody great country. Not enough time here. Sad to be leaving today.

Highlights:

Melbourne

1. Medley Hall (our own rooms!)
2. Australia Day fireworks in Fed Square
3. Tsonga fans at the Australian Open
4. Shopping on Brunswick street
5. Mystery shipping container bar in a Chinatown laneway (very Blade Runner)

Sydney

1. The Opera House (obvious, I know)
2. Mingling with the locals at the Oaks bar and almost going swimming at 3 am
3. The coastal walk near Bondi beach
4. Flat whites and Tim Tams

Queensland

1. Getting scuba certified and then diving for 3 days straight on the Great Barrier Reef - are you kidding me?
2. Rainforests and deserted beaches (because of the crocodiles and jellyfish)