First Earthquake

Just after midnight we felt the quake, and it lasted a full minute or so. Apparently it struck Sumatra near Aceh province again about 10 minutes earlier. We were on the second floor of a guest house in Georgetown, eastern Penang island, in northwestern Malaysia, sharing a triple with a new Swedish friend for the night, Josefin. Basically we were just saying goodnight and the beds started shaking. I couldn't figure out why, because there was no music, no bar, no train or subway below. Then our resident earthquake expert, Scott Lee (his third), said the word earthquake, and we all braced ourselves in bed. We actually didn't leave the guesthouse, and nobody came to give advice, but this morning we learned that residents fled their homes here into the streets, afraid to stay inside. 8.7 magnitude and we were able to go back to sleep! I suppose we could have begun the 5 km trek across the bridge to the mainland in a huge traffic jam, but what good would that do?
Georgetown is a bigger city than I thought it would be for a small island. Penang is about as old as America, older than Singapore or Melakka. It was established when British Captain Francis Light landed in 1786 for the East India Company, and has thrived ever since. Last night we hung out with Josefin all night for dinner and drinks on Love Lane and Avenue Chulia; we met her on the bus ride in from Cameron Highlands. Great girl, from Stockholm, and has amazing taste in music! - The Kinks, Jane's Addiction, Beatles, Velvet Underground, Johnny Cash, the Pixies - I was exceedingly impressed until she said her favorite book was War and Peace (I suppose I should read it before I judge). I'm just finishing Mandela's autobiography and need something new anyhow...It's amazing how you just meet someone for a few hours on a bus and then bunk up with them for the night. This sort of thing only happens when you're travelling I suppose.

Selamat Datang!

Cameron Highlands was the stuff of postcards, a brilliant, wet landscape set high into the hills. Tanah Rata was the town center where we stayed, at Father's Guest House, surrounded by farms, flowers and rolling mists. The Highlands is Malaysia's most famous former British hill station. It rains 3-4 days a week, and makes it a perfect location for tea plantations and strawberry farming. We were so relaxed, at a great guesthouse with movies all day, fresh strawberries and jams, great Indian and Chinese food (the town is 50% Chinese and 33% Indian), and good company - we met some great girls from Glasgow in the dorms and spent the days with our Canadian friend Elissa who we met in the jungle. She's moving to London soon so I may look her up when I get there. Actaully, on our tour of the strawberries, cactus farm, tea plantation, rose gardens, honey bee farm, and Chinese Buddhist Temple, we were accompanied by an Elissa Grey and a Melissa White...weird. The tea plantation was beautiful, the way the hillsides are terraced and manicured. The plants have a lifespan of 120 years and are in their 76th year, the largest plantation having been established in the twenties by a Scottish family.
So we drank fine teas, toured the countryside, and watched movies while it rained. No Indiana Jones, but National Treasure wasn't bad! Cameron Highlands felt much like a small ski town in the mountains or something, relaxed and geared towards families and anyone needing a rest after an intense jungle trek!
Tomorrow we head into Thailand, and I will be sad to say goodbye to Malaysia. The bleak and desolate highways that led us into the country from Singapore have been replaced by fond memories of temples, skyscrapers, and rainforest and rolling hills as we move north. What I once suspected was a dangerous, primitive Muslim state (so ignorant, who plants these horrible things in our heads!) has been a warm and wonderful place to visit. When I return next I will make sure to see the east coast.
Now it's on to the beaches of Thailand!

Welcome to the Jungle

First, let us pause for a moment in honor of Andrew Eisenberg Doyle, who turns 24 today, as we have kept him at the forefront of our thoughts through the ultimate 3-day, 22 kilometer cleansing hike in Taman Negara, a tropical rainforest/jungle in the Pahang region of central Malaysia. We missed you kid.
Now, I will not be able to do this entry justice, no way, but let me describe a little for you our last 3-4 days. Night one was spent in a "hide," 45 minutes up river in an engine-powered canoe and a 2-kilometer hike into the jungle; night two was spent in a cave as part of a group trek; and night 3 was spent with 9 other travelers in an Orang Asli village downstream, the indigenous aboriginal people here. We also braved the famous "Canopy Walkway," the longest in the world and perhaps the most popular/touristy activity. It is impressive to walk 30 meters above the jungle floor, amongst the tallest trees in the country.
There was an ongoing argument over the difference between a jungle and a rainforest. The general consensus was it depends on the amount of rainfall. Good item to google later I guess...
The best part of the journey was the group, the people all meshed well. Scott and I immediately limked up with 3 other young guys from the hostel (one of which we met on the bus to Jerantut and subsequently paid for our triple room by putting it on his company!), all world travelers and each with his own interesting tales: Rob: American, 30 yrs., 1 year traveling around the world; Stefan: Swiss German, 27 yrs., 1.5 years traveling in SAmerica and Asia; and Sef: Dutch, 24 yrs., working in southern Malaysia on rotation for an international co. They, as well as the guides, really made the trip, even as we sweated through the 37 degree sauna each day with our packs with 5 others. We met a hilarious middle-aged couple from Manchester, a Londoner on holiday who works for Coca Cola, and some Swiss Frenchman as well.
Nameless people. These are the people you meet while traveling, never learn their names, and yet you share incredibly special moments that you'll remember forever. Cheesy, sorry, but true. It's like you don't even care to get their name, just their story. Together you learn about the sandwood trees that the Aboriginees sell for oil and perfume money, how to shoot a blow-dart gun or how to make fire with a short piece of wood and a slice of bamboo, or which plants make the human male horny and the female stop bleeding during pregnancy, or how to efficiently manage just 3 liters of water over a full day of hiking when it feels like you're sweating out 10 pounds an hour. I have never in my life sweat like that; you cannot escape the heat. Even sheltered from the rays of sunlight, the canopy of the forest retains the moisture and heat necessary to cook you like a turkey. Endless moisture makes a brief dip in a cool stream heaven - you should have seen us all soaping up and grinning like idiots. Exhaustion also breeds hunger, and therefore our nightly beef stews and daily rice lunches tasted like gourmmet dishes from the kitchens of our mothers. Our most expensive endeavor yet, 3-4 days in the jungle with food and guides for around $75 is money well spent.
The guides are lively, knowledgeable, and generally out for a good time. They are just great to be around.
"I promise you will see Tiger..." That night we each had 2 beautiful, ringed with condenscation Tiger beers in our hands. The truth is, most of the animals we did see - water buffalo, snakes, a monkey, iguanas - were seen on the sides of the river banks. Nothing was seen from the hide, a small raised cabin deep in the forest with open windows for viewing, and its salt lick. I blame it on the English and Scots staying there with us, so noisy! I did, however, hear the trumpet of an elephant from the cave the second night when Stefan woke me at 3am, very cool. The guides taught us how to play Malaysian card games, how to say a few lines, and I even played drums with bamboo and tin cans around the campfire on a makeshift set last night while Amir strummed and sang some heartfelt tunes in his language. We slept on leafed stalks under hastily erected open-air huts on the moist dirt. Pain. Satisfaction. Perfection. I'd not have it any other way.
It did rain once, but we were back at base camp, enjoying lunch and cokes at a floating restaurant. There are a number of these by the river where bungalos and one resort have sprung up. The rain was short but needed, cooling the air and lending some relief to the struggling boatsmen who have dealt with ever-dwindling water levels through the dry season (now). We had to get out and help push quite a bit when the boats got stuck in the river bed.
Today while we waited for our 3.5 hour boat ride out of the jungle we just sat there and watched the world go by, conversating with the guides and eachother, drinking, smoking, card-playing, etc. I could have sat there for days, maybe weeks, let me tell you.
That's all for now. I am thankful to be sore but showered, awaiting my night-train back to KL. We are headed next to the Cameroon Highlands, higher ground with cooler temperatures where we can lounge extravagantly and carouse the old tea plantations on our slow-motion schedule.
I'll post pictures soon...

Samsara

In my next life, I will be a cat. But not just any cat, an alley cat. I'm talking An American Tale, where the cats run the streets like the mafia. My stomping grounds will be Kuala Lumpur, where I can patrol the winding streets of the old city, with it's classic maze of dirty back alleys and suffocatingly obnoxious crowds, fumes everywhere from the buses that choke the air and clowd the sky. Conversely, I could sneak into a futuristic, Epcot Center-style monorail and hightail into the new city, architecturally advanced and menacing with it's enormous skyscrapers and almost alien centerpiece, the Petronas Towers. I'd spend the day with suits and the nights with the street vendors, breathing the heat.
KL at first was appalling, especially after arriving just recently from Singapore. The bus station is near Chinatown on the older side of town, and our hostel room was an 8 by 10 cellblock, worse than a freshman dorm!, complete with concrete floors and a fan that spewed grime and dust. This west side of town has one jewel, Merdeka Square, where the British used to play cricket and now where Malaysians gather once a year to celebrate independence. Old movies are also apparently shown nightly on the massive television screen there, for wandering couples and vagabonds such as ourselves. We resolved immediately to stay only one night.
But the new side of the city redeemed KL for me. We painstakingly figured out a bus route to the Petronas Towers in an attempt to do the one touristy thing we knew existed, the sky bridge made famous in Entrapment with Sean Connery. Unfortunately, it's like the Washington Monument; tickets are free but sold out by 11am. It was 4pm. Imagine our utter disappointment. But then, a stroke of luck named Hanjj. It's amazing what you can accomplish just shooting the breeze with a worker at the towers: 2 tickets for the bridge. That made our day, and the view really was spectacular. We then wandered through the ten-story mall, all part of the KLCC complex built on a former horse track, and stopped for a movie as the rain kept us stranded. Million Dollar Baby, I highly recommend it.
The night only improved from there. We cabbed it to Golden Triangle, the trendy night-spot area of town with fancy restaurants, clubs, and overpriced hotels, but also hawker stalls and cheap food alternatives (more our style). We met some cute Japanese girls while taking pictures for eachother and drinking Tsingtao. But perhaps the best part of the night was walking into a street performance by accident in honor of the Formula One Grand Prix race that took place outside of KL earlier that day. There was blaring music, smoke and lights as a stream of Malaysian models showcased designer fashion outfits around Ferrari racing cars for passersby. Very cool.
So KL is a place that grew on me immediately, but we left this morning anyhow for Jerantut, gateway to the jungle of Taman Negara, where we will likely stay 2-3 nights. Just getting into the park requires a 3 hour boat ride upstream - don't worry mom, I know you're thinking Joseph Conrad but really this is probably like Disney World's It's a Small World, just more beautiful. I'm very excited for the canopy walk, one of the highest in the world over a deep gorge, and perhaps some night trekking. We'll do the touristy stuff tomorrow and then likely buy a guide for one more intense night.
I hope the jungle will be all it's cracked up to be, especially after sitting next to a park guide! on the bus ride here. I'm only scared of leeches...luckily it is the dry season. I also spoke at length with an older Malaysian man about the country, its politics and religion. The diversity of religion continues to amaze me here - a Chinese jungle guide talking with a Jew from America and a Muslim ethnic Malay, no problem. He noted that he and I are both descendants of Abraham, he from Hagar and I from Sarah. Malaysians here actually speak more English than Arabic! He joked that he lived here and never had been to Taman Negara; I responded that I grew up in Washington, D.C. and had never been inside the Capitol (I don't think he got it!). We also talked about Malaysian industries - rubber trees, rice, and oil, and new technologies to lessen reliance on petrol; and about daily life here - school, work, holiday, festivals. Sometimes an off-the-beaten-path bus ride with a detour in a town like Temerloh that takes an extra 3 hours turns out to be a good opportunity to meet the locals.
Alright then, see you in a few days.

Culture Shock

Singapore is an incredible city, more western I think than almost any city I've ever seen. I had heard it called the "Switzerland of the East" or something like that, but I had no idea it would actually look like Westwood. The best part of the city (we were only there 2 nights) was undoubtedly the hawker centers. These islands of food court insanity amongst a meticulously planned and well kept urban center provide delectible dishes from all cultures of the country - Chinese, Malay, and Indian. I bet if you pulled the best stand out of each hawker center in the city, they could match up with the best of the food network's over-rated celebrity chefs.
But Singapore is also a strange place politically. The country has seen prosperity in times when the rest of Asia suffered, mostly due to its prowess in banking, so people are living very well. But it is a one party state, and a state with strict laws, like a $500 fine for spitting. Chewing gum was recently allowed again. Most frightening to an American, the government essentially knows everything about all its citizens, tying cell phones to national identity cards, censoring internet access, and so on. Some call this efficiency, I call it the first steps towards civil liberty infringement.
Perhaps the funniest moment in Singapore was when Peri (short for Pericles, our Greek dorm-mate) and Francesco (our Venetian dorm-mate) launched into a discussion about Romania and the European community, which I promptly entered. The discussion was pathetic, because these guys are travelers and not very political, and I know very little about Romania, but get this...drum roll please...
I was wearing boxers and a t-shirt, Scott was wearing the same and just trying to go to sleep, and Peri and Francesco were only adorned in what appeared to be speedo-cut briefs - perhaps purchased in the women's section? The conversation was serious, but as they say, "hindsight is 20/20." We laughed about that all the way to Malaysia.
Alex, a young German student currently interning in Singapore for Siemens, accompanied us to the Long Bar at the Raffles our first night to show us around a bit. I was struck by the architecture of this amazing hotel, one of just a few in the world still thriving from the 1870's. Dad, you would have loved the grand staircase leading up from the bar. One could almost imagine the upper-class Brits strolling about with their funny suits and hats. The colonial feel to a large area of the city is something I hadn't experienced before.
Thanks to Bob and Roseine (family friends), I was able to call my mother with their phone card and relate a bit of our trip over the phone. We also took their advice and toured the city with the Singapore Airlines city bus, a fantastic old people tour! (no offense!). It was perfect, and my favorite spots were the orchid garden in the botanical gardens, Little India, and Merlion Park (there's this big statue of a half lion/half fish because the legend is the Sultanate that discovered the island thought he had discovered this rare beast - it turned out just to be a lion).
We are now in Melaka, SE Malaysia for a couple days. Did you know that Malaysians take line-dancing classes? Very entertaining, like the electric slide at a bar mitzvah with those annoying hired dancers and their fixed smiles cheering the dance floor on! This town is actaully quite touristy, but a must see for it's blend of Portuguese and Dutch history. One street even has a church, Hindu temple, and Mosque all in a row.
It's funny, I thought Malaysia would be dangerous because it is a Muslim state, and I might even stand out as a Jew. In truth, this Muslim state is made up of only 52% Muslims. It is a melting pot of Asia and India, and nobody stands out. People are not dressed in Prada or Banana Republic like in Singapore, but who needs that anyway.
One more funny tidbit I forgot to tell from Bali. A group of Japanese girls came up to me at sunset at the beach and I misunderstood their request to take a photo of them. They wanted ME in their picture! Man that was so awesome, I wrapped my arms around them and took a great photo with these strange oriental beauties - I just wish I had made them take one with my camera too. Ok, I'm rambling, goodnight all, enjoy work and school today. As soon as I can figure out how, I'll try and put some pictures up here. Anyone know how??

Naughty Nuri's and the Lords of Bali

We are leaving Singapore for Malaysia tomorrow, but instead of telling
you about what a Chinese guy, a Jew, and a German were discussing over
Tiger beers with a Swiss fellow at the colonial-style Raffles Hotel
Long Bar, I must tell the tale of Naughty Nuri's. This was a story
that developed in the most unexpected of ways.
Our final day in Bali, after my minor and somewhat forced manicure
experience with a young local named Linda, but before my henna tattoo
on the beach, was spent visiting the quaint, artistic and culturally
rich town of Ubud in central Bali. It was a scorching day in what one
Scott Lee proclaimed the "Bethesda of Bali," (Ubud) and we exhausted
ourselves roaming the overpriced (but colorful!) boutiques and
specialty shops of the city for a bit. The city is small, but
overflowing with cafes and small shops filled with art, crafts, and
local necessities - motorcycles, supplies stores, mini-grocery
stores.
After lunch I forced Scott to come with me to the Neka Art Museum,
which overlooks a beautiful river valley just north of the town
center. It was a great museum actually, very relaxing. Ancient and
contemporary art, foreign too but mostly native, is set in small
pavilions amongst beautiful fountains and well-kept gardens. My
favorite parts were the Arie Smit pavilion (Dutch painter still
living in town, about 80 now, who is largely responsible for the
development of certain "Naive" art styles among Balinese artists of
the last 50 years; and the Kokes picture gallery. Mr. Koke moved with
his wife to Kuta beach in 1936, they fell in love with it and built
the first hotel there, and even brought surfing to Bali from
California (Mr. Koke had experience with surfing through his MGM
studios work). They got out just before the Japanese took over and
wrote a book about it, "Our Hotel in Bali." Smit was not so lucky,
serving in forced labour camps across Indonesia and in Singapore
before returning and making Bali his permanent home.
A good end to a fine day right? Well, it didn't actually begin until
we wandered out onto the street to catch a cab around 3pm. There was
a small outdoor pub across the street, maybe 30 seconds walk from the
museum gates, and a group of what appeared to be 5-6 older white men
waved us over to talk. They wanted us to sit and drink! Such an
overture was met with great enthusiasm - we never drink that early!
So it turns out that at that moment we've hit the Bali expatriate
hangout jackpot. Instantly, we are mice among giants, sharing stories
and smiles with the richest and most interesting men, each with their
own unique story. This is a very long story to tell it all, but let
me summarize just a few of the men who came through. Wolfgang
Widmoser is an accomplished German artist with an impressive resume of
shows across Europe, Indonesia, the US and Japan. I spoke at length
with him about odd topics as the afternoon wore on (and we kept
drinking), like war and pain and history, smoking clove cigarettes.
Stephen was another German, quiet and reserved in the corner. He
worked as a journalist for ABC before moving here maybe 20 years ago.
Brian was the bar owner, a Jersey native who spent 20 years in the
printing business before marrying Nuri and basically retiring in Bali.
He still has a house on Long Island, and is loud, obnoxious,
foul-mouthed, and wonderful. Brian bought us many drinks, like
tasteful shots of Stoli with a lime dipped in Balinese coffee and
sugar - they called it the Dolph Lundgren shot (something about the
Russian guy in Rocky?). Chris Gentry was from Portland I think, and
ran Outward Bound on the west coast for years. He's a big guy, and
arrived on a lion of a Harley, with a bloodshot eye and a good story
or two. But greatest of all was Victor Mason, a legend in the area.
Born in England but having spent his life selling booze across Asia,
he has lived in Bali for 35 years, and is on his 3rd wife! Victor
autographed his latest book for us, "Birds of Bali" (he is a
bird-watcher and gives tours now), and was a poorly dressed drinker
smoking hand-rolled cigarettes. He was the best, drinking whiskey and
beer and delivering toasts and rhyming lyrical nonsensical stories as
only a fine old English chap like him can do. Victor even knew Arie
Smit!
The long and short of it is, we got drunk late (or early I should
say!) into the evening, never moving from that gorgeous, square,
wooden communal table (except to eat messy racks of delicious ribs),
and caught a ride back to Kuta with Jeff Roberts and his girlfriend
Gemma, younger expats (American and Spanish) who have already amassed
small fortunes of their own here in the gem business.
What a life! These people sit around and soak up the sun in paradise,
with new friends showing up every hour or so to turn up the energy
once more. They berate and embarrass each other to no end, and have a
grand old time sharing stories and travel tips for us youngsters. The
bar itself was just ranked among the top 20 on the island. The advice
we receive most often about our travels is simply not to try and do
everything, but most of all not to visit a destination simply to check
it off your list.
Needless to say, we were honored to be welcomed into their world, if
only for 5-7 hours.

Celebrating Sexuality

Rounding off the Nyepi (new year) holiday, our final evening in Kalibukbuk Lovina was spent at a beach party and dance. We met Nicholi and Judyth for dinner in town, and then headed to the beach. Dinner was great, I had classic Satay (peanut sauce with chicken or vegetables and rice) and a Bintang beer for about 3 bucks. We discussed travelling a lot,and learned more about Holland and Utrecht! Maybe I'll headover there at some point...
So at 9pm at the beach we paid about Rp 2,000 (almost 20 cents) to hang out with the townspeople by the water and in the night market/festival party extravaganza (whatever you want to call it). The scene was sort of a cross between Lost Boys (great movie from childhood with Keifer Sutherland if you haven't seen it) and The Beach.
A man sitting by the stage area next to the beach offered us tickets to "the dance" for about 3,000 each. We declined, thinking perhapsit was a scam (we already paid to get in!). Well, we found out soon what we had almost purchased - I wish someone had made the mistake.
The highlight of the night is the dance ceremony. It begins with a musical introduction - about 12 old men on the side playing an assortment of strings, drums and bells, all in traditional Hindu garb. A young girl then comes out dancing to the next number, to the roar of the crowd - the entire town has gathered. She is dressed like a traditional Hindu Princess (think Aladdin) and dances in an elaborate and colorful jewelled outfit with a gold fan. There are a lot of precision hand movements and talented hip thrusting. Basically every young man in town is starting to go nuts for these girls, who begin coming out one at a time, and you can feel the energy building. Finally, they literally start calling numbers (the dance tickets!) and individual men delight in taking the stage to attempt to dance with the girl. We found out later they had been bussed in from the next town. So it is a bit of a funny scene, the girl teasing the guy while he makes a fool of himself in front of his friends and family. But after a while you start to realize it is a bit obscene, not artful. The guys try to jump all over the girls and force them into sexual positions, etc., while the crowd roars. Needless to say, the people are not as quiet and reserved as I would have expected in Southeast Asia. It was great spending time with our Dutch friends, and we hope to rendezvous again in Bangkok.
We are now in Kuta Beach, probably the main attraction in Bali. We decided against travelling to Lombok and the island for lack of time. Kuta and Legian (next beach over) are the prime spots for surfing - huge waves incessantly pound the shore. We are burnt and tired, but happy, after renting boards for 2 bucks all day and pretending to be Laird Hamilton (I barely got up at all, obviously, because it was so damn hard just to swim out there).
Kuta is a massive town, lined with name brand shops, McDonalds and 7-Eleven - feels like an 80's movie beach town - but still retains the authentic Bali flavor, especially by the beach. Sunset by the expansive beach here, as hawkers push carts past and women attempt to sell you homemade jewellery or massages, is gorgeous. Plus our room is only 40,000 (almost 5 bucks), half of the Lovina spot. What continues to amaze me is the sincerity of the locals' attempts to get to know you. It's like they want cater to tourists, yet haven't lost their sense of pride and hospitality. I hope this trend continues. Last night we had a great meal at a Japanese restaurant, and recieved a dish on the house after hitting it off with the waitress, who was from Lovina.
The bad part about Kuta is the tourist infestation - I've never seen so many blonds in my life (not a bad thing, I suppose). But there are relatively few Americans, probably because we are one of a few countries that actively scares our citizens into staying away from here and elsewhere. Thank you Dept. of State, for striking fear into my mother's heart. We are surrounded by Aussie's, British, French, and Japanese mostly. And many, many surfers.
Tomorrow we'll head to Ubud, the cultural mecca of the island and supposedly the best food. Wednesday we leave for Singapore.

The Kalibukbuk (Lovina) Experience

The New Year (Nyepi) celebrations lasted longer than we thought. Thursday's street celebrations were followed by a day of rest Friday, unbeknownst to us as newcomers. Imagine waking up in your bungalow and heading out to the beach at 9am, only to be told that you cannot go to the beach today...what?! We snuck out anyway, and even though police sweep the beaches and patrol the streets (everyone stays inside all day and guests are confined to their hotels), we spoke with the officers by the ocean and they let us take a quick dip. The black sand is nice, but the water and beachfront is actually strewn with litter here - not the best swimming beach. We then wandered down the beach and into the local neighborhood behind, where we found groups of children playing soccer and basketball in the streets, their parents watching from doorways. Obviously we participated, and Chino got some very cute pictures of the children. Everyone smiles here incessantly, and they are sincere and kind, unlike locals I've met in other countries who only want your money. So most of the rest of the day was a wash, but reading and lounging with staff and writing was fine with me for a day, especially with heavy rain in the late morning and afternoon. The highlight of the day came unexpected, and late, when we struck up a conversation at dinner at the hotel with a Dutch couple. Nicholi and Judyth had recently finished graduate school for psych, and had travelled much of SE Asia already. Their advice on Malaysia and the Thailand-Cambodia-Vietnam-Laos circuit was enlightening. For instance, we're told that Cambodia is wildly expensive relative to its neighbors, and Bali has been the most welcoming and nicest people yet...I guess it was good to start here. After a few beers we turned in early.
Today was the grand tour of Lovina, which one local told me was the former capital of Bali before Denpasar. It is quite lovely, but relatively small for a capital. We rose at 5:45am for 6 o'clock dolphin watching. Basically a guide puts four people in a canoe with catamaran-like balancing arms and straps a motor to the back. You motor out for about 30 minutes, straight out to sea, as the sun rises above the mountains behind you. The idea is to catch a glimpse of the dolphins before they head out to sea for the day, but sometimes you only get a sunrise. About 6 boats went out together,and we were grouped with two Germans, Andrew and Moolie, who were nice but that's all. The Dutch kids were also out there. It was a beautiful morning, and we saw about 100 dolphins in an hour or two. Quite a good experience for 3 bucks. Motoring back to shore in a light sun shower was also very cool.
The best part about Lovina has been the relative lack of tourists - we're 2 of about 10 total I've seen.
After breakfast we set out with a hired driver to tour the Gilit Waterfall, the Temple on the Lake (Hindu), the Monkey Forest, the Hot Springs (too hot for hot weather, but we still jumped in), the botanical gardens (a large park/picnic area), rice fields - mostly terrace farming surrounded by lush vegetation and tropical-looking trees leading up to the mountains, and my favorite, the Buddhist Monastary. There I spoke with a monk through a nice woman who interpreted, about the age of the buildings there. We had to wear saris to cover our legs.
The day was exhausting but great, and we've now seen a sizable chunk of the northern part of the island. The best experience is simply driving through the rice and coffee fields in the valleys, listening to SE Asian island and house music, enduring the frequent rain in the mountains and the relentless sun by the coast. I feel very energetic and healthy here, and I'm able to both rise early and stay up late. Don't worry, Scott hasn't lost his ability to pass out anywhere he wants.
The idea for tomorrow was to finally move along to Gili Air, a small island known for diving and snorkling northwest of Lombok, the next island over from Bali to the east. But we've decided to scratch that plan and simply hang out in Kuta beach (the most popular area) to make the most of our time until Wednesday's flight to Singapore. Seriously, how much worse could snorkling be near Kuta? So tonight we'll have dinner with the Dutch, and then we're off to Kuta in the morning, a 3 hour ride back over the mountains to the south.
I had a great discussion just now with a local about Malaysian-Indonesian tensions. It seems that Malaysia has been claiming a number of small islands back from Indonesia, who already let 2 go. In his mind, they will never stop trying to take land, and are only a threat because they are backed by Britain(?). He said he'd go fight if it ever escalates. We also met some Californian tourists at the hot springs who said good things about Singapore and China - apparently the Yellow Mountains are magnificent a day away from Shanghai. Finally, Scott and I have been a bit embarrassed by 13-17 year old Balinese girls, who love to say hello, clandestinely take our picture, and tell us that we are very handsome. Maybe this is how it feels to be a model or something. One girl, Srit, asked me if I was married! It's all in good fun I guess. If we take their pictures they should be able to take ours!
One last thought- do you know how frustrating it is that I cannot purchase anything because I need to travel for six months!?

Does paradise exist...?

Breath in, breath out. Close your eyes. Repeat after me, "I am in Bali, I am in Denpasar, I am in a remote village in Hindu Indonesia on the other side of the world." Yes mom, I'm here and I'm safe, now let me relay our amazing journey here.
We woke up this morning at 6:30 on the beach in Mui Wo, Lantau Island in Hong Kong, not having made it to the touristy area with the Buddha and hiking, etc. So the peak there and the buddha will have to wait for next trip. It's not so disappointing when you get stranded in what I can only describe as the perfect get-away beach with the locals, eating authentic cuisine and drinking 24 oz. beers on the beach in front of your hotel until midnight, shooting the shit about future plans, impossible dreams, and beautiful women - we overpayed this time, 17 dollars each for the night.
So the ride to the airport for our 10am flight took us up and over the hills and mountains of Lantau, through beachtowns and finally to the ugly airport in Tung Chung that has encroached on the serene landscape of monasteries and protected parkland. The flight was great, I watched Ray, which you really should see, Jamie Foxx plays him perfectly. I also enjoyed the red wine immensely, Cathay is officially not banned.
We arrived in southern Bali around 2:30pm, and immediately decided to take a bus to Lovina, a smaller, quieter beach town on the north side, about 3 hours away. The idea is to skip Kuta beach for now and just get somewhere where we can literally do nothing for a day, before climbing waterfalls and scuba diving, of course. After the hassle of visas, luggage, and money (I love how citibank is everywhere, even though I'll quit them on principal when I return for their mistakes with my accounts), we landed a fixed-price taxi to the bus station in Denpasar to link up to a bus to Lovina. This place reminds me of Morocco a lot, especially how everyone is so helpful and smiling all the time. Even the scenery, with flat farmland and rolling hills of lush green colors. The taxi was fine, and the bus ride was an exprience.
We have arrived on some sort of festival day, where everyone dresses up in costumes and erects huge monster statues in the streets - sort of a kids holiday/halloween type thing I think. Anyway, for 3 hours, picture the biggest parade-type situation ever, with the entire island lining the main roads, even up through the mountains. I think perhaps we've already seen the entire population out on the streets at this point. The ride was also a journey through the different stages of humidity possible in a minibus, not to mention when we had to switch buses because the driver didn't want to go any further and talked some other dude into finishing the job. But seriously, when we stepped off the plane it was 90 degrees, the kind of heat where the pants you've been wearing for 3 days now start to stick to your butt. Then you only feel better when there's wind, but each time we stopped for a procession of monsters the wind stops and you get hot. Thank god bottled water is about 18 cents. Then as we drove up into the mountains and it started to rain, and the temperature dropped. The driver didn't seem to mind the wall of mountain mist surrounding the car and limiting vision to about 10 feet, because he still took some of those turns at around 35mph I think. By the time we descended the mountain to the north and stopped for gas, we had cooled off and then our skin just felt nasty again. The amazing thing is, I barely noticed that it took 3 hours, the sights and sounds and incredible motor vehicle skills of the locals has left me astounded. Doyle, you'd love the selection of bikes here, we may have to rent some and drive around in a couple days. So the end of the story is, we got here and found a place to stay even though our first destination was closed. We're paying about 9 bucks for a room with 2 beds with a real bathroom and toilet!about 30 seconds walk from the Balinese Sea. And curry chicken dinner with beers just now was about $5.50 for the two of us, including tip. Sorry for the lengthy post, I get excited.

"I took off my shoes, my feet they took root,
I've got, Bali in my eyes"
-Perry Ferrell

First good story

So last night after a wonderful meal with Scott's great aunt in Times Square - shrimp, beef, pork, dumplings, noodles, dessert, everything amazing - we made our way to Lan Kwai Fong for drinks around 8pm. The funny part is we were trying so hard to get to this trendy bar area and didn't even know where we were sleeping (night 2!) So the area really is amazing, much like Leicester Sq. in London I think, with many Americans and rich businessmen out for happy hour. We settled on a small Aussie pub called the keg, where we had half yards of great european beer. I guess the plan was to wander around for a few more hours and then crash on the beach in Stanley or on Lantau island so we could hike the peak there at sunrise - we'll do that tonight I think, but stay in a real hostel.
Our savior became Maggie, a pretty bartender who took our picture and started giving advice. A native of HK, Maggie said she studied criminolgy in Vancouver. It was nice to talk to a young girl with perfect english and a knowledge of our side of the world. Anyways, she ended up calling a friend and finding us a cheap place to stay for the night right in town, and also gave us good tips and directions for markets and transportation. She saved our asses, and we headed off to the night markets in Kowloon with full bellies and a sense of satisfaction. If Maggie ever makes it to DC, I promised we'd take good care of her. I thought about giving her my number, but I don't have one!!! Email will have to suffice.

Hong Kong is ridiculously cool

I think I've figured it out. I thought it would be like NYC in Asia, fast paced and futuristic. But really it has all the culture and architecture and business, etc., but none of the stress. The people here are friendly, it is safe at any hour, and everyone is lounging and hanging out in the parks! It's amazing really, and much less expensive than first thought. However, we haven't bought a damn thing because the markets seem to be full of mostly junky stuff. But really, it's cheap here, for instance, yesterday we rode at least 1 train, 2 trams, 1 taxi, hostel buses to the mountain, a tram to Victoria Peak, and 3-4 metros for under 20 bucks.
Today we hiked around Lamma Island, which is a nice coastal walk through old villages and beaches away from the city, yet very accessible. Kind of like Cinque Terra. The ferry is a great way to get around as well, as you get to see the skyline from every angle.
Victoria Peak last night was even better than expected, but to tell the truth the view from our 8 dollar hostel was almost as good. But you can't beat a nice overpriced drink overlooking the city as the buildings begin to light up the sky around the harbor. It prompted immediate discussions of why the hell more people don't move here...like us. NYC is all concrete with one big park (granted, it's wonderful); HK is a metropolis set against the backdrop of layers of awe-inspiring architecture, islands and majestic mountains. Dating here would be very easy I think.
We're off to have dinner now with Scott's great Aunt, should be great. You can't beat a free meal, no matter how little you're spending. Tonight we'll either stay in Stanley (southern part of the island) or on Lantau near the giant Buddha. We plan to do a sunrise hike to Lantau's famous peak. But there's not much time left here - we leave for Denpasar Thursday. Perhaps there will be better internet access there. In HK internet cafes don't exist, it's unexpected. You gotta find a cafe with a few computers that will give you a few minutes for free. So that's all for now.

Arrival is so sweet

Well, we made it, and I have to say Hong Kong is generally just prettier than I expected, not as crazy or crowded, but just beautiful. We had a great night in NYC Friday night. I am grateful to Becky for her hospitality, and the lovely Mana, with Kelby, gave us a very cool tour of some of the NBC studios - Scott jumped on stage at SNL. We even got to see Sarah Rosenbvaum in Hoboken for the St Patty's Day parade, and a few beers before our flight with old friends f\was the perfect send off. Surviving the flight here wasn't so bad, just take a couple tylenol PM's and you're set. Especially when they're serving Chivas on the rocks aged 12 years. The stewardesses were lovely, but the food was disgraceful. I expected more from Cathay!
Our hostel is ridiculous for the price - thank you Moshe for the recommendation, it sits atop Mt Davis with a sick view of the city and surrounding islands. I'll write again soon after we finish wandering around the city for a couple days. Tonight I'm excited for Victoria peak.