On to Bali

To Bali, Indonesia

We made a bit of a tactical error with our airline tickets to Bali. I'm hoping we got a good deal since the flight left at 6:05 a.m., meaning we were up a the crazy time of 3:00 a.m!  To alleviate the pain somewhat, we had shifted hotels from downtown Bangkok to near the airport. In fact, it was so close to the airport that we could actually take a walkway from the hotel directly to the check in lobby.

Dex was far from happy as we trudged out of the hotel room but recovered nicely after a 1/2 hour or so and the eventual acquisition of yet another pair of KinderEggs. We had depleted our supply of Thai Baht to the point where we we were short the full amount to get the Eggs, but the attendant kindly accepted supplemental US dollars to complete the transaction.

When we arrived in Bali, the arrival process -- customs, baggage claim, ATM and the taxi to Pererenan -- went very well. Amy met us at the Beer E Pizza just a hundred yards or so from their house. We were definitely ready for food as our Air Asia flight had offered none… at least none unless you preordered, which we failed to do.

Bali traffic

Dex and Amy catching up at Beer E Pizza

The Hagin's Bali home

It was nice to catch up with Amy and learn about their time in Bali. We had met the Hagins -- Amy and Jeff and their three beautiful girls, Claire, Kaitlyn, and Madelyn -- in Venice after visiting the Murano glass works in June. They are coincidentally from the neighboring town of Los Gatos in California and generously invited us to visit them in Bali where they are living for the year. Not being ones to pass up a fabulous opportunity, we gladly accepted.

Since our meeting in Italy, it’s been Meg that’s kept in touch on FaceBook. They had come to Bali specifically because of the Green School, a unique English language school, primarily attended by foreigners, with a focus on environmentalism. Jeff had left his job in June giving the family a chance to travel before classes began in August.

The house they are renting is impressively large and quite unique. The great room takes up the lions share of the house, features twenty plus foot high ceilings, a wall of windows and an elevated walkway bisecting the space and connecting the second floor bedrooms on each end. The windows looking out down the road and towards the ocean are both a blessing and a curse in the tropical sun. Most unique of all is the kitchen, built entirely into a steel shipping container occupying one corner of the room. The steel door on one end were repurposed for the doors to the downstairs bedrooms.

Most wonderful of all, certainly as far as the kids were concerned, was the long narrow pool with wonderfully warm clear water. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the pool and relaxing, before walking down to the shoreline for sunset.

The beach at Pererenan is a happening place with a rocky, dark sand beach, food vendors and a surfing crowd. Some roasted corn on the cob and a couple drinks put us once again into the island mood.