Bali and Korea -- March 18, 2012

It was a great sleep last night, despite a most impressive thunderstorm. Woke up a bit after 10 p.m. and heard the loudest clap of thunder I’d ever heard. It was pouring rain with a lot of wind. But I went back to sleep although did rouse at one point as I was very warm and realized there was no electricity, and the air conditioner was off. Didn’t get up until 7:30, then spent the morning with e-mail, blogging, and a little reading.

At 12 Helen and I walked to Monte’s bungalow for pre-lunch drinks with a friend of his. Shirley (great name, huh?) had lived in Bali for a number of years quite near Monte. She returned to Australia 18 months ago in order to be able to claim her pension but hopes to return to Bali for at least extended vacations once her “stay in Australia for two years” incarceration has ended. After the cocktail hour we headed for J.P.’s restaurant for lunch. Monte put the three of us “ladies” into a taxi while he rode as a motorcycle passenger. Because of a closed street (power line down as a result of the storm), it took us about 15 minutes to go a few blocks. Monte was about to send for assistance when we finally arrived and had a lovely lunch.

At 2:30 Helen and Monte took off via motorcycle for Denpasar (where the airport is) to attend a service at a Catholic Church. They thought it was the English language service, but it wasn’t. Helen still enjoyed the rhythm and interest of the service. In the meantime Shirley and I went to the bungalow in which she’s staying for a few days on her way from Japan to Australia in order to visit friends and reconnect with Bali. It is the same bungalow in which she lived the last years she was here. An acquaintance took the lease but is in Bali only three months a year so is happy to rent to someone she knows. It’s a lovely house only a couple of blocks from Monte’s.

I returned to the Kasuma Hotel about 3:45 at which point I put on a swimming suit and finally had a little use of the pool. The water was lovely and warm (although pleasantly cool in comparison with the air), but, despite some umbrellas, it was almost impossible to escape from the sun. Monte and Helen returned while I was lying there, reading and musing, and we talked briefly. Showered, wrote some postcards, and read a bit until 8 p.m. when Monte stopped by to take us back to J.P.’s for a light dinner and what we thought was Indonesian music. Instead, the lead musician was from Chile, playing a gourd instrument from Mali, in west Africa. But the music was still quite enjoyable.

Stayed until about 10:15 when we walked back to the Kasuma using the next-door Haven Hotel as a shortcut. They may begin charging us rent! Watched a bit of an old Jimmy Fallon show on TV and went to bed at midnight.