more painting

This is the fountain that pours into the pool. It was very relaxing to do, although the staff in the restaurant weren't  too happy about me sitting there when they wanted
to sweep the floor again.

JJ

Slept in

Woke up round 4am but thought... nope. I'm not going onto the beach in the dark, despite being wide awake - so I turned on Netfix and actually had a lie in.... until...

"knock knock... sorry... knock knock.... so sorry"

My laundry returned to me at 8am, apologetically.

By 8am it is too hot to be out in the sun - so I might have to be quick and use the 20 mins between the sun falling behind the trees and intense darkness if I am going to do some stone balancing today.

Wow, I've turned into a Victorian - I've become so used to long twilights.

Today I bought some bleach for the toilet because... bloody hell... the bathroom SMELLS!

Tomorrow is my last day in Amed. On the 27th I get on a "fast boat" and go to Gili Trawangan, then back to Kuta to my first hotel I stayed at last year: Bakung Sari - my favourite!

Paintings

Not particularly spectacular but fun to do.

Routine

I have a routine now.

Wake up before dawn.
Drink the can of iced coffee I bought the night before.
Go to the beach and build some stone balance towers before the locals see me and think I'm nuts.
Do some Yoga/Tai Chi moves.
Read
Eat Breakfast
Jump in the pool for a swim
Lie next to the pool and read till I'm dry
Go back to bungalow and draw/write/paint
Eat lunch
Jump in the pool for a swim
Lie next to the pool and read till I'm dry or until children annoy me enough to want to commit murder
Go back to bungalow and read/nap
Eat Dinner
Jump in the pool for a swim
Lie next to the pool and read till 7pm because the pool gets shut down at 7pm and the sun is gone.
Go to the shop across the street and buy a packet of purple sweet potato chips and a can of iced coffee.
Go back to bungalow and watch Netfix and eat purple sweet potato chips.

Yep. and tomorrow I'll do it all again.

That's my idea of a holiday!

Day 4 Relaxation Level Unlocked

Apart from spending the day seeing all of the north east corner of Bali and spending four hours shopping, yesterday I had a bit of an existential crisis and my mood plummeted.

This morning I'm feeling much better... with no plans but sitting about reading, swimming, painting and napping.... maybe a massage later... I feel I can stare blissfully into the middle distance and think about.... nothing.

But of course, the all important stage to enlightenment is to blog about the journey.

Ommmm......

Fingers

Frangipani fingers reach to the sky with peace signs.

Pre Dawn activity

I wake up early long before breakfast is ready, so this morning I built these.

 

  

Relaxation

Sometimes it's hard to shift a negative mood.  My realisation on arrival that the hotel was not up to scratch set me off, I think. And then seeing that video of a drugged lion for tourists to pose eith makes me reconsider my safari bookibg on Sunday...... my driver today drove all day for ~$80 and will work all night as a security guard. He slept while I was shopping.
Why do I have so much and these oeople so little. It's not fair and I find knowing this affects the luxury of my hotel experience.
Everything I order they say "please enjoy your drink". But will I? Do I really find joy in the diversity of my diet?
The driver I hired has "only one menu- fish and rice everyday".
3 bintangs.
I am feeling more relaxed.
But guilty. 

Even more so when I read on fb that friends are suffering from depression and I am hopeless to help them.

Not sure how to feel.... another bintang sets the mood while a gekko sings in the night.

Not a bat

This is a photo taken seconds before the little guy responsible for piles of bat crap on my verander,  zipped out to avoid the  paparazzi.

Evidence

See. Kitties on the roof!

Plans for tomorrow.... Ubud

I've hired a driver (because I'm not an idiot) to take me to Ubud tomorrow for some kulcha!

I've decided to head to the Monkey Forest for a spot of "naww what a cutiepie.. schnookieeee argh... argh... he's eaten my finger" and a walk about the arts district and visit a few museums and do a spot of shopping.

Here's the plan!

It will be nice to just sit and see the country side go past for a couple of hours.

Now, it's time for.... more reading followed by naps.

What I'm reading right now: The Republic of the Imagination by Azar Nafisi

It is just lovely! I can't wait to read : "Reading Lolita in Tehran"

So where on earth am I?

If you see the drawn circle to the top right of the Bali chicken you will see the road loop I took today on my 2 wheeled steed of death.

And that was enough motor cycling for me for one lifetime.

Post nap dinner at sunset

I think the hotel read my last blog post. Michael Buble has been replaced with Indonesian pop. The current song sounds like "I'm horny, horny horny".

It's sunset so therefore I'm eating dinner. Tonight it is Gado Gado.

The sound of Bali

This is some music my friend Francis (and total Java-phile) created.

https://soundcloud.com/frankenflute/ratna-1

He makes his own bamboo flutes and gamalan etc.

What I find rather amusing here is that.... the moment you step into restaurant/store/whatever.... the previous silence is hurriedly filled with gamelan recordings. ... like .... yeah, we listen to this stuff all the time.... not.

Second swim for the day

What's the temperature in Melbourne today?

While I still have arms and legs

Handed over the keys of the bike and said... "yes, very fun, but I don't want to die, thank you".

Drove up the road to get lunch elsewhere and had lempung- fish and coconut deep fried with chilli and vegies.

So yum.

Waiting for my room to be cleaned.

Wow. I have nothing but napping, reading and swimming to do.

This takes some getting used to.

I'm learning to walk slowly like the locals. Still not happy with the large german/swedish family (found out later they were Hungarian) making a racket round the pool every time I try and relax.

Bit sick of Michael Buble too.

Focus on the good stuff.... this orange juice is AMAZING and the breeze is just lovely.

Ok... hopefully they have cleaned my room and I can re-mount the steed of death in search of lunch.

Did I mention little children laughed at my driving? Yep, it's just like school. Oh, and no child goes to school here it seems. They just hang out. Saw a few kids in uniform on their death bikes earlier this morning. No helmets. Just a wing and a prayer.

Children know the English for "good luck" and "be careful".

:)

Still have all arms and legs.

All skin still intact.

Spent 3 hours riding the bike around rural Bali over the worst roads you've ever seen.

First I have say that riding a bike in Bali is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS! DO NOT DO IT!!!!

I found it very difficult to master and I still cant go around corners yet without wobbling and accidentally accelerating into oncoming traffic. Luckily very few vehicles on the road up here in Amed, but lots of chickens and dogs and children.

Nearly stacked it when a large green spider crawled across my face. But then again, 'nearly stacking it' was just my modus operandi all day.

Having a break for a swim and then back on the bike to give Bali another chance to kill me.

Photos of evidence below.

Ok..... I'm gunna do it.

I've hired a bike to ride around on tomorrow.

The next photos you get to see may well be of a cast and a sling.

Wish me luck.

The gorgeous restaurant and pool area

Right on the beach.

Pity the beach is made of black volcanic rocks.

Some photos of my island paradise hotel.

View from my bungalow.

First Day. Trying to relax.

It's not easy, relaxation.

Sure. Swim in the pool. Eat yummy food. Have nap. Read a book.

Still, I can feel that nagging "is this all you're gonna do today?"

But it's been lovely. I purposely stayed in at the hotel to ensure maximum relaxation potential can be attained.

Before breakfast there were kittens on the roof. Fair dinkum! So cute.

While eating breakfast the chef walked back through the restaurant from the beach with five silver fish.  I asked him if he caught them but he said he bought them from the fishermen.

Mental note: order the fish!

Today I did a couple of poor drawings and a watercolour. And built my first rock towers.  Always wanted to do that!

Arrival at long last

The aircraft left an hour and a half late. Tried to sleep but Garuda prides itself in force feeding its passengers.

Arrived and had to wait at the baggage pick up - it's my least favourite thing in world.

The drive to Amed was over 3 hours long.  Got a good look at the entire east coast of bali.

Arrived at hotel. DISAPPOINTED! Nothing like the photos... should have smelt a rat when I couldn't get their email or phone.

Popped next door and saw the hotel was exactly what I wanted... so I moved.

Now I'm exhausted and full of bintang.

To the airport

The world's best taxi driver picked me up at 6am. He remembered me from my trip up north in 2014 to meet my brother John for the first time.

Then border security kept my bag and searched it coz... I had tubes of gauche paint. I thought they had a problem with the paint brushes, but it was the paint. It was watercolour based paint, apparently oil based paint is more potentially dangerous.

But all good!

Here I am waiting at my gate for a 4 hour flight in a middle seat..... sigh. Might take a kwells and zonk out.

In bed. Can't sleep.

See title.