Indonesia

As always with my posts... I haven't got much time, and I'm going to do my best to squeeze an entire country (the largest archipelago on earth this time) into one post. I accept no blame for this. Things have been positively chaotic since I set foot on this continent~ in the attempt to juggle looking for a second job with busting my ass at a restaurant run by a scary lebanese man, I've left very little time for showering/eating/changing my underwear... blogging has taken a backseat.

Anyway, I arrived in Denpasar Airport sometime on the (... holy shit, that was a really fat dog that just walked by the window. I'm getting the most outrageous culture shock here.) 24th of May, and met up with JJ for some good ol' beer slingin' down at a multi-level club entitled "Legian 61". Oh, how I wish I'd never heard of that place. $5 for unlimited beer from 5-10pm? That's just asking for trouble. I've only technically been thrown out once, though. (The other times, I was courteously asked to leave... under threat of being thrown out.) Shenanigans, shenanigans, San Diegan doctors, more shenanigans. It's amazing how much more paranoid you get about that weird rash/unexplainable bruise/dry throat when there are doctors there to look at it for you. Of course.. their wide and unparalleled knowledge of diseases-- usually involving lots of bugs and microscopic... things... --- doesn't do much to set your mind at ease.

A little more time in Kuta (mostly due to the discovery of a $2 gym and the discovery of a group of crazy Canadians), and then we were off to Uluwatu to surf, play with monkeys, and observe the almighty tourist attraction of a fire-dance. We didn't surf, the monkeys were aggressive, and the fire-dance was really strange and somehow filled me with the overwhelming desire to hire a different orthodontist... but I DID meet a cute South African that not only reminded me that there are still people that are a lot crazier than I am that still manage to function in society without any kind of court orders or visible restraints. He also reminded me that driving on the other side of the road is better done by people with no will to live. (Sidenote: My time here was also spent with destroying a rental bike... but I'll get to the another time)

As sad as I was to leave the warm arms of a gorgeous semi-pro surfer (as well as the warm pizzas of the eatery down the road) --- we were on our way to Gili Trewangan before you can say "Bob's your Uncle" and were OUT of Gili T before you can say "I'm NOT from Japan!" and on to the warm shores of Gili Air. Ohhh, I could have stayed here a lifetime. Really. Look at this shit! Could YOU bring yourself to leave?
On our first day on Gili Air, we met Lisa- a cool Brit who was fully immersed in a romantic fling with a Lombok local. Thankfully, this meant that Eful- our voluntary guide for the day, was all too happy to show us one of the best snorkeling spots I've ever seen in my life. He also clued us in to the secret of bringing cookies to the fish. They love it! It was Corn Nut's first experience, and certainly my best. 3 turtles, and positive hordes of fish swimming all about us. It was bliss....

June 7th, we were back on Gili T... just in time to PAR-TAY for Corn Nut's BIRTH-DAY. Look at the pictures. The DJ in black was one of the best I've ever partied with. I would have mowed his lawn in worship to the awesome set he delivered. Very... very good party.


A couple more days on the Gilis, and then to Ubud...

OH. I don't have a picture... but I wanted to do a small tribute to Cal- an awesome Aussie we met there. We met Cal at dinner one night-- he was sitting at the table next to us, silently chain-smoking and observing our photo session with Courtney's new floppy hat. After a few words in exchange, he offered us a free room in his villa on the other side of the monkey forest. His VILLA. At first, I was like "I wonder which organ he's trying to harvest and sell"... but after a few more hours of out-hanging... we found that he was completely legit. Like, not a scummy serial killer or anything. We then lived off his charity for the next few days--- first Corn Nut rolled her ankle and he CARRIED her through the monkey forest and down the kilometer of road on the other side to his place. He then ran about town looking for a cab for us after she was stricken down with a massive case of food poisoning. THEN, he commissioned a personal driver to take us all to Kuta-- claiming that he had to go anyway (obvious bullshit)... I think... all because he knew we were poor and wanted to help out. This guy was awesome. I salute you Cal. I salute you.

That's all. I'm going to get into my epic dash from one part of KL airport to the other... but I'll wait until a time when it's NOT 3 in the morning. Goodbye.