Bali 2007: From Kuta to Uluwatu

Landed in Jakarta well past midnight and spent the rest of the night at the house of Aya's tita (we slept girls in one room, boys in the other). Breakfast was thin slices of proscuito and heaping spoonfuls of nasi goreng. Then... off to Bali!

Arrived in the Island of the Gods after lunch and spent the first day getting settled in. Moro, JP and I were booked at Taman Ayu Bungalos -- really cheap place with clean rooms, comfortable beds, and a super friendly staff. I found out about Taman Ayu through Denver, who stayed there last year and made friends with one of the staff... this super nice local named Juli. Juli is the best.

Aya, Phil and Terence stayed down the street at Masa Inn. We heard about this place naman through Paolo and Cat (later backed up by Vince and Andrew). Value for money. Really great digs for a price you wont find in the Pinas.

Across Masa Inn is a restaurant called Nusa Indah. Yummy food at really low prices. Most of our meals were eaten here. Most of our Bintangs downed right after those meals. We made friends with one of the waiters pa. Komang (I know, whattaname!) became our command central... "Hey Komang, did you see Phil and Aya?" and he'd go "Yes, they just ate and went back to Masa Inn". Really convenient.

Oh... I took everyone to Legian Street the first night and introduced them to the Surfer Girl and Quiksilver store there. Third floor = sales floor. Little did any of us know that this was going to be a very small portion of what our shopping was going to be like. Hehe.

Surfing happened the second day. COLD water. So cold that after a while our fingers were going numb and our toes felt like they were going to fall off. But, since the swell had dropped off, we at least managed to have a fun session. I got long rides and got to practice my turning. Timing lang cos a lot of the waves were closing out and the sections that were consistently working were filled with locals we didnt wanna hassle.

Ano pa ba? Ah, Moro scored a board! He sold his 6'3 before we left for Bali so we were on a mission to find a a good deal on another board while we were there. The Kuta area is awash with surf shops so it took us a while to make a decision and to wrangle a good price. But on the third day of our stay, we made a choice - a 6'0 pintail Barreira board.

After we found our bearings, we decided to stick around the Kuta beach area for a few days, braving the cold water and the often close out waves. I made friends with some local instructors and they picked waves for me to take. Nothing great but deffo long fun rides. By this time, we'd all developed a taste for Teh Botol, a locally bottled tea drink. And we were starting to make friends with the vendors on the beach... getting discounts on our Teh Botols and Bintangs... and earning a safe place for us to leave our bags while we all surfed. (Most of the hangin' and surfin' Kuta pics are with Terence).

Moro and I took an afternoon off to head up to Uluwatu. We rented a motorbike (Rp80,000 with insurance for two days), asked Juli to draw us a map and took off. Ulu was small that day - small for typical Indo standards. As it was, waves were head high, peeling and perfect. We watched the line up at Ulu and this cool guy taking off on double overhead waves with his paddleboard at Temples. Then up to the temple itself to catch the sunset... and lose sunnies to a cunning macaque.

Terence joined us in the motorbike brigade the next day and we went off in search of... sales! Hahahaha. Really chill day lang using the bike, surfing a bit and then checking out Joe's Place for the first time. Think Big Sky but chiller pa.

Next up! Ubud and the Monkey Wars!

Addicted to Online Quizzes

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So pleased with this one because I grew up loving Molly Ringwald and her generation of Brat Packers. Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club... love, love, love!

Happy Birthday Papa

Since we cant have a real birthday for you this virtual one will have to do.

So anyway, I know this blog is more for me than it is for you. But I wanted to do it anyway. Never mind that I am usually not this emotionally naked online. It feels right to do this right now.

For breakfast, I would've gotten up early to make you French toast and bacon, double dipping the toast just the way you like it and crisping the bacon so that it made those crunchy sounds. Served, of course, with real maple syrup (none of that Karo Light stuff). And we'd eat it while watching reruns of Cheers or maybe Friends... whatever is on Star World before Ellen/Oprah. :)

And for your present? I've been thinking hard about this because there are so many cool things that you'd have really liked. But I think I have the perfect one. Check this out Pa...

















The Beatles' ... one of their 45s and a photo from their appearance on the what I think is the Ed Sullivan show.


Happy birthday Papa. Miss you.

Left Ako Kage, said Vic in Zambales

A year ago a certain spot in Zamba gave me one of the biggest and most painful bruises I've ever seen on anyone not involved with boxing, URCC or in prison.

So it was with more than a little trepidation that I returned to the spot last Saturday. Thankfully instead of a horrifying repeat, I had a really good session! Waves were a fun size, no scary wipeouts, no close encounters with the reef and even managed to get off a few blurry shots before the D200's battery ran out.

Del waived the "we drop in on each other all the time" edict and gave me a wave all to myself. And Vic switched gears by warning me that he was going to go left instead of letting me drop in on him. Heehee.
We were here for close to seven hours and then decided to turn a weekend trip into a day one. Giant pizza sessions. Moisturizing sessions and trying-not-to-fall-asleep-at-the-movies sessions.

Halina't Sumayaw sa Ilalim ng Araw ng Baler

This is a long ass intro. But I'm going to write it out anyway. ;)

You know how you learn a new skill? And then later on you realize you've lost the touch and you arent as on the money with that skill as you used to be? It could be a grande jete, or a 3 point shot, or an au sem mao... and it frustrates you cos you know you can do it... you've done it before... how come it's so hard to do it now? Well, that's basically how I've been feeling lately with my pop-ups and my walls.

So the mission for the weekend was to relearn those skills, fix the mistakes I am making before they become bad habits. The first morning was frustrating and then after lunch we saw that the beach break was working... and even though Dom and I hadn't slept for over 24 hours, we went out to play. Aya stayed near me to make sure I stayed focused. And I fixed the problems!... the popping up, the turning so you slot yourself into the wall... committing to those drops. All of that. To make it even better, everyone was getting good waves too. Aya's frontside is looking better and better. Dom is dialing into that retro fish so well. Nicola, Tin, Kim, Mons, Aerika and Raf joined us later and made the line-up even more fun. Too bad there are no photos cos the boys were all asleep.

By far, one of the most memorable trips to Baler with the Band of Brothers.

These are just the snapshots taken with the Pentax OptioW30. The action shots taken by Coy and JP will be in another album.

Super highlights?
1. That Saturday afternoon session. I stayed out until it was too dark to see. "Too tired to paddle, too stoked to stop." Nica and Aya win for coming up when the stars were coming out. :)
2. Trying to hang on to six boards on the back on the pick-up with Philip.
3. Raf getting smacked by a center fin... and snapping the center fin clean off the board with his cheek.
4. Dom to Aerika "Paddle!" (Aerika paddles) Dom again "You're not paddling!"
5. Watching Saddam demolish waves AND a bottle of Nutella
6. Vic playing along with "Astro" by Sago on the car horn as we sped through the Sierra Madres
7. The group photo with Gerry Shan the Man!
8. Pop up Close out sessions at "Lubot"
9. Using Pandora again. First time since November.
10. Twenty people for one Baler trip, a record breaking cast.

Photos of it are here.