day two was really cool. i got to start kitebaording. what i was waiting for 8-9 years. before anyone knows around me, i knew kiteboardng and that's due to my curiosity on extreme sports and sports in general. breakfast had been the highlight of my trips and meals in general. i had a massage and then indonesian food. paid 12 US$ for four person on a lots of food. it was really tasty.
then went to the beach and started the kitebaord. at night we headed to this place called "hu bu". such places is what is missing in dubai. it feels like really right. u don't feel overdressed or under-dressed at all, no matter what you are wearing. the club had two bar and a gorgeous garden with cushions all over the place.
i had a cool cocktail, which i hardly remember what it was! it was after a a fab dinner at a sushi restaurant.
the weather has been awesome so far. it's been like heaven. sun during the day and cool nights. i'm like a chocolate milk now!!! we called it an early night for tomorrow was a big party night at kudeta.
one thing that had caught my attention here is the way that people treat one another. they are so tolerant, so understanding that one feels like "what the fuck are we doing in the developed world?". the way they drive is probably too disordered. however, they had come to this understanding that no one and absolutely no one objects and they give way to another one. the toughest word i heard was the other day that we almost crashed in a motorbike. our driver said "please be careful next time!"
i'm sure in lot of countries it would have been a brawl!
and speaking of motor bikes, it's like crazy here. thousands of them.
p.s.: just had a almost strong tremor. i guess it shouldn't be surprising here considering the fact that this region has a long history of quake and tsunami. i hope no one is hurt.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
bali - arrival
it's about a week since i came to bali for my first proper vacation in three years. i never had more days off more than a week during this time. 6 days in lisbon, and 7 days n shemshak for ski!
and i haven't been writing for long. but i guess i'm relaxed enough to start it again.
this trip was really eye-opening for me. i got to know quite few things that i never notices before. for one, it made me realised that no matter how well educated i might be or how much i know, i still forgot that i never know enough and i still have too many preconceptions about all that's going on around me that it becomes dangerous. how i feel about other people, colleagues and the way i recently categorised people! quite and stereotype hollywood shit! quite frightening.
then, now i realise how fortunate i am to have the opportunity to live the way i am living now, when you met the guys here who sleep with another man, when they are not gay! one could always argue that they can do something else but that's not the point. the point is that no matter what they do, they will suffer. either hunger or sleeping with another man. in any case, i'm the fortunate one that never was forced to make a choice.
the start of the trip was a disaster. it's me and three of my friends. well not totally friends but cool acquaintances. a flatmate, her good friend and another god friend of her who is very successful. being with successful people is always inspiring and teaching!
we got to abudhabi airport from dubai by etihad airways bus. it was a nice ride. i managed to sleep all the way. not too unusual of me. arrived, checked in and wandered in duty free. lot's of people and a crazy terminal to the real meaning of the word. it is so under-developed that one wonder whether it's really capital of UAE, where dubai is its major city? so unorganised and hectic. it was my third time in that airport and none was an encouraging experience.they called us to transit hall and there it was, more than two hundred people in the cue and only two security gate in a very narrow hall.only one of the gates works! brilliant, we're gonna miss the flight. i followed my gang through, our flight was about to board and we had to make way through to catch it. people to all other destinations, karachi, kabul were going through that gate. the gate opened, ladies only. after going through the gate, a friend managed to get us in from the business entry. it's one thing that she's good at but not always. we got into the plane. by the time we checked in our luggages in dubai we had asked for a front row and the clerk gave us row 16-middle of the 777 boeing. guess what, 15 is in front of it. so what my brilliant gang did is that they decided they will sit in row 15! not to mention that my seat was 29 and it was her brilliant idea. i was not pissed but really surprised. as they sat in row 15, she sat two people on our original seats and confusion started. the no one knew what had happened and i gave my sit to a guy who didn't have boarding pass and was twice as much as i am in size. huge. i guess it saved a bit of hassle for the flight officer after the mess we made. after half an hour, pilot taxied down the runway. then this guy came and said to flight officer:"I don't wanna fly!". here we go. back to the gate. security check and another 45 minutes. i don't know whether the delay we caused was a good thing that this guy didn't cause panic on the flight or we were the one who caused it?
one thing that i never understand is that why this Friend of mine who had managed to cause the havoc was bragging about security f the plane and constantly going on stewardess nerve "what if the guy has a bomb on the plane?". i had to take her to her seat and made her sat down so crew could do their job. she was not silent though.
it was not the perfect start to my vacation but it was already over. seats were ok. i slept and watched movies until we landed in jakarta. CGK i guess.
passport control; the guy was looking for an empty page to stick in my passport, but hey there's none!!!! fuck. i never noticed that i don't have enough pages on my passport for i haven't travelled that much. anyways, the last plain page was found and stamped. great. now we have to rush to get on the flight to bali. the etihad crew in jakarta were so nice and helped us and a german couple to get on the plain. we managed to get there in time. we landed in bali. the driver was there and took us to the villa.
in the first look everything was ok and good, but a a closer look reveals the poverty. bumpy roads, garbage dispersed all over the places. not developed. i have been hearing about bali for ages and it's a shame that it is not well looked after. it could be impressive but it's not. lot of shops and bars. you never noticed that you are in the muslim country with the largest muslim population.
the driver took us to the villa. teh villa is in a "oberoi" street. a long, narrow street in seminyak area filed with shops, bars and restaurant. the first thing that grabbed my attention is this restaurant called "sasa". i later found out that it's a coffee shop-restaurant and the owner is a cool, down to earth itallian guy from napoli who's been living here for 15 years now. it had become my favourite place with a great pasta. our villa is 7-8 meters away from oberoi. i was not impressed by the look of the street and the location to be honest but i knew i have to wait.
as i entered the villa, it was totally different scene. i very nice villa with a gorgeous swimming pool. it's not a huge swimming pool though. and a bungalow outside on a beautiful garden, which we call it love shack! it's where i'm gonna be for the rest of the trip. not a bad compensation for a disastrous start.
one thing that i found really cool about this place is that toilets and bathrooms are open! yeah open. it's in outside but of course shielded with walls but no roof. it is the most amazing feeling to take a shower under the sun shine or moonlight or sit on the toilet while it breezes through :D
i had the shower and got ready for party. the driver took us to "ku-de-ta". a bar - nightclub in bali and very famous. it's the happening place in bali. you find everyone there. from INXS guys to Ian Thorpe and to ordinary people like me. one thing about that place is that you never feel the they are there. they are mixed in the crowed and i really liked it.
kudeta is next to a gorgeous beach. we had a short stay there, for the two nights after is the anniversary of kudeta and we were invited. roia knows a lot of people and one is the owner of the kudeta. he's a nice man and really laid back. i met him in the races in dubai last winter in a wild night and wild situation. i wondered how i remembered him. i was drunk up to my head.
i had a tokyo, a cocktail with sake. it was great. really gets to you. two tokyos and off to dinner at taste. taste is a cozy french restaurant with a gourmet menu and awesome food. tuna steak, prawns, asparagus salad, ... name it. it's awesome. it is in the stretch of oberoi street and 5 minute walk from kudeta, 10 minute walk from our villa. so everything is in walking distance.
two more will join us in two days. one is a colleague and another one a friend of mine. the colleague, is not a good news cause other girls, well they don't necessarily like her and that's why i don't understand why they asked her to come!!!!! i don't say she's the nicest person in the world but she's ok. she as different habits, which are strange to me to be honest. but i never get acquainted with her if i know that i don't like her habits. well we are not all the same. so far so good. the first night was quite cool.
and i haven't been writing for long. but i guess i'm relaxed enough to start it again.
this trip was really eye-opening for me. i got to know quite few things that i never notices before. for one, it made me realised that no matter how well educated i might be or how much i know, i still forgot that i never know enough and i still have too many preconceptions about all that's going on around me that it becomes dangerous. how i feel about other people, colleagues and the way i recently categorised people! quite and stereotype hollywood shit! quite frightening.
then, now i realise how fortunate i am to have the opportunity to live the way i am living now, when you met the guys here who sleep with another man, when they are not gay! one could always argue that they can do something else but that's not the point. the point is that no matter what they do, they will suffer. either hunger or sleeping with another man. in any case, i'm the fortunate one that never was forced to make a choice.
the start of the trip was a disaster. it's me and three of my friends. well not totally friends but cool acquaintances. a flatmate, her good friend and another god friend of her who is very successful. being with successful people is always inspiring and teaching!
we got to abudhabi airport from dubai by etihad airways bus. it was a nice ride. i managed to sleep all the way. not too unusual of me. arrived, checked in and wandered in duty free. lot's of people and a crazy terminal to the real meaning of the word. it is so under-developed that one wonder whether it's really capital of UAE, where dubai is its major city? so unorganised and hectic. it was my third time in that airport and none was an encouraging experience.they called us to transit hall and there it was, more than two hundred people in the cue and only two security gate in a very narrow hall.only one of the gates works! brilliant, we're gonna miss the flight. i followed my gang through, our flight was about to board and we had to make way through to catch it. people to all other destinations, karachi, kabul were going through that gate. the gate opened, ladies only. after going through the gate, a friend managed to get us in from the business entry. it's one thing that she's good at but not always. we got into the plane. by the time we checked in our luggages in dubai we had asked for a front row and the clerk gave us row 16-middle of the 777 boeing. guess what, 15 is in front of it. so what my brilliant gang did is that they decided they will sit in row 15! not to mention that my seat was 29 and it was her brilliant idea. i was not pissed but really surprised. as they sat in row 15, she sat two people on our original seats and confusion started. the no one knew what had happened and i gave my sit to a guy who didn't have boarding pass and was twice as much as i am in size. huge. i guess it saved a bit of hassle for the flight officer after the mess we made. after half an hour, pilot taxied down the runway. then this guy came and said to flight officer:"I don't wanna fly!". here we go. back to the gate. security check and another 45 minutes. i don't know whether the delay we caused was a good thing that this guy didn't cause panic on the flight or we were the one who caused it?
one thing that i never understand is that why this Friend of mine who had managed to cause the havoc was bragging about security f the plane and constantly going on stewardess nerve "what if the guy has a bomb on the plane?". i had to take her to her seat and made her sat down so crew could do their job. she was not silent though.
it was not the perfect start to my vacation but it was already over. seats were ok. i slept and watched movies until we landed in jakarta. CGK i guess.
passport control; the guy was looking for an empty page to stick in my passport, but hey there's none!!!! fuck. i never noticed that i don't have enough pages on my passport for i haven't travelled that much. anyways, the last plain page was found and stamped. great. now we have to rush to get on the flight to bali. the etihad crew in jakarta were so nice and helped us and a german couple to get on the plain. we managed to get there in time. we landed in bali. the driver was there and took us to the villa.
in the first look everything was ok and good, but a a closer look reveals the poverty. bumpy roads, garbage dispersed all over the places. not developed. i have been hearing about bali for ages and it's a shame that it is not well looked after. it could be impressive but it's not. lot of shops and bars. you never noticed that you are in the muslim country with the largest muslim population.
the driver took us to the villa. teh villa is in a "oberoi" street. a long, narrow street in seminyak area filed with shops, bars and restaurant. the first thing that grabbed my attention is this restaurant called "sasa". i later found out that it's a coffee shop-restaurant and the owner is a cool, down to earth itallian guy from napoli who's been living here for 15 years now. it had become my favourite place with a great pasta. our villa is 7-8 meters away from oberoi. i was not impressed by the look of the street and the location to be honest but i knew i have to wait.
as i entered the villa, it was totally different scene. i very nice villa with a gorgeous swimming pool. it's not a huge swimming pool though. and a bungalow outside on a beautiful garden, which we call it love shack! it's where i'm gonna be for the rest of the trip. not a bad compensation for a disastrous start.
one thing that i found really cool about this place is that toilets and bathrooms are open! yeah open. it's in outside but of course shielded with walls but no roof. it is the most amazing feeling to take a shower under the sun shine or moonlight or sit on the toilet while it breezes through :D
i had the shower and got ready for party. the driver took us to "ku-de-ta". a bar - nightclub in bali and very famous. it's the happening place in bali. you find everyone there. from INXS guys to Ian Thorpe and to ordinary people like me. one thing about that place is that you never feel the they are there. they are mixed in the crowed and i really liked it.
kudeta is next to a gorgeous beach. we had a short stay there, for the two nights after is the anniversary of kudeta and we were invited. roia knows a lot of people and one is the owner of the kudeta. he's a nice man and really laid back. i met him in the races in dubai last winter in a wild night and wild situation. i wondered how i remembered him. i was drunk up to my head.
i had a tokyo, a cocktail with sake. it was great. really gets to you. two tokyos and off to dinner at taste. taste is a cozy french restaurant with a gourmet menu and awesome food. tuna steak, prawns, asparagus salad, ... name it. it's awesome. it is in the stretch of oberoi street and 5 minute walk from kudeta, 10 minute walk from our villa. so everything is in walking distance.
two more will join us in two days. one is a colleague and another one a friend of mine. the colleague, is not a good news cause other girls, well they don't necessarily like her and that's why i don't understand why they asked her to come!!!!! i don't say she's the nicest person in the world but she's ok. she as different habits, which are strange to me to be honest. but i never get acquainted with her if i know that i don't like her habits. well we are not all the same. so far so good. the first night was quite cool.
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