We decided to hire out our driver from the airport and spend a day with him showing us the sights.  Ignoring the call of cocktails and the ocean we instead got an early start and headed north to the artist enclave of Ubud.  It was about an hour drive north considering the traffic.  It seemed like every road we traveled on was full of bottlenecks that brought traffic to a crawl.  Our driver said that road improvements are on the long list of things to work on once the government starts operating in the black.  It sounded familiar.

When we finally arrived in Ubud, our driver interpreted our request to see some local art as “let’s go to various touristy art shops”.  After two such stops we asked him to skip the shopping altogether and instead get to the sightseeing of local temples.  The driver didn’t get mad – he was getting paid already – but I think he was hoping to get some kickbacks from the shops for bringing us there.  The “take the tourists shopping” scam is the oldest one in the book.

Ubud was quite different from the scenery around Nusa Dua, and so it was fun to have the driver take us on backstreets and see how normal Indonesian people live.  It seemed like every house was trying to sell some kind of handicraft or artwork.  Our driver said that unemployment in Bali was at around 20%, so there were a lot of people around with time on their hands who evidently could learn art quickly.

After visiting some temples, he took us to a local restaurant that looked like it also was a tourist trap, but we were too tired, hungry (and hung over) to care too much.  The food was actually pretty good there, and my hangover told me to order a banana milkshake instead of our usual lunchtime beer.  It was a good call – a milkshake that I’ll never forget.

After lunch we asked the driver to take us back towards our hotel, with a couple of short stops on the way to pick up some essentials in the shops.  On the way back a huge storm came through – dumping water at a rate that was hard to believe.  We were lucky we were in the car, and I had flashbacks to our crazy ride back from Agra to Delhi in India last year.

The rest of the holiday we spent mostly around the hotel, taking it easy and spending a lot of time at the beach.  Surprisingly we didn’t get too much sunburn, and a lot of my co-workers commented when I got back to Japan that I looked like I didn’t even go to Bali.

Our final trick was to go to the hotel spa and get a long Balinese massage just before heading to the airport to go home.  The massage was excellent – there is a big difference when they are professionals.  The ride back to the airport turned out to be a really long trip on the same traffic congested road.  What was a 20 minute ride when we arrived was a two hour ride going back, and I was glad we allowed a lot of time before check-in at the airport.

So that’s about it – a very relaxing trip and maybe the first one that we’ve taken that was centered around a resort rather than the cheapest hotel we could find.  It was a good experience, but I think it’ll be a while before we stay at a resort again.  There is something to be said for the independence and freedom that a small local hotel affords.  Besides, I like thinking on my feet, using the local language, and taking chances.  Maybe that’ll change as I get older.

We spent most of the week out on the beach, but there were definitely some highlights other than getting tan and sipping cocktails.  One thing about staying at a resort is that you start to see familiar faces.  One family was headed by a guy that looked remarkably like Vin Diesel, and bossed around his kids like it, too.  Walking along the beach we saw a Japanese guy with his upper body completely covered by tattoos, right up to the wrist where he could hide them with long sleeves if necessary.  He had a completely shaved head, and walked around like he owned the place.  Maybe he did, but we figured he was a yakuza getting some time away from Japan.

We also tried to get out from the bubble and explore other parts of Bali.  Our driver from the airport offered to take us anywhere we wanted to go for free, and not quite believing it we arranged a ride to a local restaurant with the hotel.  It cost us $20 to get a 15 minute ride to the restaurant.  The driver waited in the car outside while we went in and ate, and then drove us back.  The bill at the restaurant for both of us with drinks was only about $7, so it seemed pretty wasteful to use that service.  But the dinner was great, and we could use the Indonesian language that we studied and order successfully.

We also went to Jimbaran beach  not far from our hotel.  We arrived via a free ride from our driver, who dropped us off at a restaurant and then drove away.  Jimbaran beach is lined with seafood restaurants.  People gather during the sunset to eat on the beach with sand between your toes and white sand stretching away for as far as you can see.  We finally settled on a restaurant that we liked with a seat under some shelter on a patio outside the restaurant.  Inside we chose our dinner, ending up with a lobster and two king prawns.  The system is to pay by weight before cooking, so we ended up paying quite a bit for the dinner, but it was a fun experience.  The only down side was the heat and the flies.  Between the two of them we couldn’t really eat at a slow pace and enjoy the meal as much as we would have liked.  After dinner we walked along the beach at sunset for a while and then headed on back to the hotel ahead of a tropical storm.

It was rainy season in Bali, so there were often rainstorms that suddenly showed up, and then went away just as quickly.  Luckily you could hear them coming as they usually were preceded by thunder and some lightning.  We would just get under something for a while, and then we could go back out and walk around.  Even getting caught in the rain was a pleasant experience when the weather was so warm.

On New Year’s Eve we were required to join a big party at the resort.  When we reserved our rooms the website said that all people staying at the resort on New Year’s Eve were required to pay the fee for dinner, and since we would be charged whether we attended or not, we decided to attend.  There was free champagne at an opening reception, and we mingled awkwardly with people that we didn’t know until it was time for dinner.  We were seated with the other Japanese guests, but that turned surreal when the family across from us turned out to be Chinese people that live in Japan, and next to me was the yakuza gangster and his wife/girlfriend.   He wasn’t so talkative, and I was just hoping I wouldn’t say something stupid after drinking too much champagne.

The good news about the New Year’s bash was that we could enjoy a lot of traditional Indonesian food, including a spit roasted pig (yum!), and the quality of the food was excellent.  The Chinese family turned out to be really entertaining, and the yakuza left early.  We had a great time that night.  We left a little early since we had a bottle of our own sparkling wine chilling in the mini-bar in our room, and we ended up drinking that on the balcony and watching fireworks off in the distance.  We even took a slightly tipsy walk on the beach in the dark, but we made it back with to the hotel without any problems, unless you count a little beach sand on our floor.  It was a nice, relaxing New Year’s countdown.

Pictures from this post can be found here.

We’re back from our trip to Bali.  This trip was more of a “get away from it all and relax” kind of trip.  We didn’t expect to do much sightseeing, and that’s how the trip turned out.  Relaxing, swimming, eating and drinking – with only a little time spent snapping pictures of the local temples and attractions.

The trip started off with a long day of travel.  We got up early in the morning and got out to Kansai airport in a few hours.  We passed through security and immigration smoothly enough, and because it was still only 8 a.m. we exchanged our customary cocktail in the lounge at Kansai airport to a coffee and some breakfast instead.

We flew on Air Asia, which is a low cost carrier based out of Malaysia.  They have recently started a flight between their hub at Kuala Lumpur and Osaka once a day.  The plane layout was actually not so much different from a regular airline, and the I didn’t feel any more cramped than usual.  The service was good and the flight attendants were very friendly.  If we wanted to eat we had to buy it ourselves, and they accepted Japanese yen or Malaysian ringgit, so that worked out well for us.  At the end of the flight we bought a couple of beers and a really nice Malaysian dish that was spicy enough to satisfy our heat tooth.

Once we arrived at Kuala Lumpur airport we were stuck in the Air Asia terminal – no chance to go out and see the rest of the terminal where I believe there are probably more choices for restaurants, shops  and bars.  However, it was suitably exotic to make looking around the shops interesting.  We ate noodles at a stand, but Kuniko found that her chow mein had at least a couple small curls of shaved metal in among the vegetables.  Yikes!  My dish was fine, though – fried noodles and spicy chicken.

After killing a couple of hours waiting for our next flight we walked out the plane and caught a much smaller Air Asia flight to Denpasar in Bali.  This flight was just about three hours, and was a piece of cake.  Before we knew it we were landing on Bali and looking outside at the dark skies.  Local time was around nine in the evening, but as soon as the doors opened we could feel the heat difference.  It was time to change clothes and try to get through immigration.

I had heard that there are a lot of scams going through immigration in Bali, and it turned out to not only be true about the airport, but a recurring theme throughout our trip.  The first scam is directly government sponsored – pay 25 USD to get our “visa on arrival”.  The line for that was about 20 minutes.  Then you wait in the immigration line and that line is about 30-45 minutes.  Once you get through there you can pick up your suitcase and head out to whatever transportation you’ve arranged.   Because the lines take forever, you can pay some guys who walk up to you (in airport uniforms) about $20 each to speed through the lines.  They have some sort of arrangement with the immigration officers and a separate line for people who decide to pay.  This is a big enough deal to see that there were many people trying to get us to pay.  We refused to pay right off the bat and instead waited in line, but looking back now, it is probably worth the extra money to get through the lines, especially if you are tired out from a long day of traveling (like us!).  Next time, maybe we’d pay.

Anyway, after another hour of airport paperwork we got our suitcase and went outside to see hundreds of locals lingering around the exit, hoping to pick up some tourists.  We had arranged with our hotel to pick us up, so we were quickly able to find our man, and he took us to his car and then on to the hotel.  There were actually two people – one hotel porter, and the driver himself.  The driver (of course) offered his services to us directly (cutting the hotel out of the equation right in front of the porter, who didn’t seem to care) and we got his card and made some empty promises to call him later if we needed anything.

From the airport it was about a 20 minute drive to our hotel – the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel.  It is one of the older resorts in Nusa Dua – kind of a gated resort community in the southeast part of the island of Bali.  The check in process was quick enough, and we settled into our comfortable room and then went to the bar to take advantage of a free welcome drink.  There we met the bartender and had a really nice conversation with him.  His name was Yasa, and his friendliness went beyond the typical tourist banter – a really nice guy.  We had a couple of drinks and then went to bed pretty early.  The bar (and the rest of the hotel for that matter) was open-air, so we could smell the saltwater of the ocean nearby.  Since it was dark we didn’t have any chances to go out and play, but we figured we’d get to that the next day.

The next day we slept in, had breakfast at the buffet, and then went out to explore the resort.  It was located right on the beach, which meant we could get out to the white sands within a minute of leaving our hotel room.  The resort was quite large, three different swimming pools, five restaurants, a spa with fitness center, tennis courts, a pool table and darts, and plenty of other diversions.  The next day we ran into our first problem, though – I had purchased a travel size of contact solution, but in the rush of the airport I had bought solution for hard contact lenses instead of the soft lenses that I wear.  That meant we had to figure out where to buy some solution, and everyone at the hotel said to go to “Bali Collection”, which was a shopping center about ten minutes walk down the beach.  We found what we needed there, and over the week spent a lot of time walking there as a way to get some exercise and see the sights.

Walking down the beach towards the shopping center you get a chance to walk through the other resorts – The Westin, Hyatt, and several others.  There were a lot of customers, but it didn’t look filled to capacity.  Apparently we were there during the rainy season, but that didn’t stop a lot of Russians and Australians from coming.  Every time we heard somebody speaking in Bali it was either a local speaking in Indonesian, or it was Russian or Australian English.  I was surprised that there weren’t more Asians (especially Japanese) or Americans there.

The other thing that was interesting was that as you left the area around the resorts you passed through an invisible barrier that separated you from the “bubble” of resort life and into regular Nusa Dua.  Nusa Dua is a pretty upscale area – later in the week we were able to see what was life beyond Nusa Dua.  I was really surprised how apparent this barrier between worlds was, and what a difference it was when you left it.

We’re in Bali for a week. I’ll start posting again when we get back. See you in 2013!

It is officially Christmas here, and Kuniko and I are both off to work.  Last night we had Kuniko’s folks over for dinner and we were able to celebrate with them, and afterwards we opened presents around the tree in our living room.  We got lots of great presents from family members in the USA, and the pile of loot is impressive.  Kuniko bought me the 50th anniversary box set of James Bond Blu-ray discs, so we’ve got a lot of movies to watch.

Today marks my last day of work of the year – I have a little bit longer holiday that the rest of the KHI people, so I’ll try to use that time to prepare for our trip later in the week.  For now, I’m concentrating on having some good classes at work and killing some of the leftovers in our fridge.  It should be a good week!

Last night during my short shopping trip in Sannomiya I stopped in at the new Burger King, and ordered a double Whopper with cheese.  That was a big burger.  Nearly as big as the ones we make at our house.  While the size isn’t necessarily the most important thing I look for in a burger, I think this point alone may be enough for them to be successful in Japan.  McDonald’s has the cheap burger, MOS Burger has the “premium/expensive” burger, and Burger King has the giant burger.  We’ll see if they do well in Kobe – the location has been bad luck for some other fast food favorites of mine, including Subway.

My shopping trip was very successful.  I even made a stop in my favorite Chinatown back alley shop to get a mysterious bottle of Taiwanese rice vinegar.  Can’t wait to try cooking with it.  By the time I got home I pretty much loaded to capacity, so hopefully I burned off the calories of that Whopper walking around and lifting heavy things.

Tonight my department’s year end party is being held in Sannomiya.  If it is anything like the welcome party back in April it should be a pretty lively one.  I’ll have to keep my wits about me – tomorrow we’ve got to get the house ready for yet another holiday party.  Busy busy…

Tonight after work I’m off to Kobe to do a little shopping, while Kuniko is away at a company party.  The plan is for me to buy some key ingredients for our Christmas parties on Saturday (at our place) and Sunday (at the Yamaji’s place).  I may have the chance to drop by the new Burger King in Sannomiya.  The last Burger King I had was in the airport on a transfer through Frankfurt Germany, and I waited about thirty minutes in line with a huge group of delayed Chinese passengers looking to blow their voucher on burgers.  This is a new restaurant, so I’m guessing it’ll be busy as well, but it is just not that often I have a chance to get a Whopper and onion rings.

Last night for dinner I decided to liven up the pot of nabe by cooking a crab in there.  It was really good.  It was my first time cooking crab in nabe, and it turned out pretty well.  The crab was pretty small overall – not like the giant crab legs we had in fall – so it was a little more work getting the good stuff out of the shell.  But we were totally satisfied.

While waiting for the nabe to cook, and Kuniko to get home, I finished up watching Survivor.  Now my reality shows are all over.  I just have one other show to catch up (Treme) and then I’m out of TV.  Luckily there are plenty of other things to do…

Yesterday after work I signed another contract with KHI, so I’ll be sticking around for at least another year.  The conditions got a little better as well.  It’ll be nice to go on our trip knowing that everything is all wrapped up back here in Japan.

Speaking of our trip, I’m continuing to study some Indonesian vocabulary to use while we are there.  The language isn’t too hard to pick up, actually, but I doubt I’ll be stringing together any sentences.  “Tolong satu ronde lagi” is about the longest I can do.

Our weekend was not the same old routine.  It started with a Friday night at home together, but on Saturday Kuniko went with coworkers to Kinosaki on an overnight trip.  She was hoping to enjoy a crab feast, but unfortunately it turned out to be just a regular feast.  Meanwhile, I settled in at home and cooked up some pork on the grillpan in the kitchen, since the rain was ruining my outdoor BBQ plans.  I had a quiet evening at home watching the end of the Amazing Race.

Yesterday we had dinner at Swaad and then watched the new James Bond, Skyfall.  It was not my favorite Bond movie, but it was not the worst either.  Pretty good entertainment, however, and I was satisfied.  The bad guy was especially good.

I have a meeting after work today, and I should get some news on next year’s contract.  Let’s hope it is good news.

It appears that I’ll be on my own most of this weekend, as Kuniko will be off to the northern part of Hyogo to eat crab and enjoy the company of her coworkers Saturday night.  I have some things I need to take care of this weekend, so I guess this is the opportunity to deal with them. And maybe I’ll dig into the DVD collection on Saturday for movie night.

Last night I really enjoyed my dinner at the Thai restaurant.  It was a slow night and so the cook came out and we talked.  It was a strange conversation involving three languages.  My Thai skills are nearly zero, but he spoke some English and some Japanese – often at the same time.  It was a hard conversation to follow, but it was interesting to hear more about him.  Very friendly guy who sounded a little bored with Okubo.  He cooked a hell of a dinner – grilled pork salad and stir fried soft shelled crab with curry – yum!

We blew past hump day and we’re already thinking about the weekend. There’s a 50/50 chance Kuniko will have an overnight trip to Kinosaki to eat crab with coworkers. If she ends up missing the trip I’m planning on cooking crab at home – we’ve got a freezer full.

Tonight Kuniko has a year-end party, so I’m on my own. I’m thinking about grabbing Thai food at the local restaurant down the street from our house. Kuniko has Thai the other night, and she’s not a big fan of the local place. I think it’s great – it is a street food restaurant, and as long as you go in expecting authentic Thai street food you won’t be disappointed. Something to look forward to tonight.

Every time that Kuniko has a half day off of work means good news for me (and my stomach).  I came home last night to raclettes on mini-potatoes with a side of avocado and camembert cheese.  It was a cheese-fest.  We had some wine and listened to Christmas music in the background.  With our little Christmas tree in the corner it made for a nice atmosphere.

Kuniko also made a lot of bread at her baking lesson, so I’ve got breakfast and lunch covered today.  Life is good…

Yesterday we ventured to work by train, and it was damn cold.  The thermometer said 2 degrees, and with the high wind it was pretty rough walking to the station.  Still, winter is only just kicking in – no time to be wimpy now.

But today Kuniko is working a half day and she has a baking lesson after she leaves work, so she needs to drive.  That means a nice warm ride to work because she is nice enough to drop me off at my office on the way.  Woo-hoo!

Saturday and Sunday were kind of “on your own” days for me.  Luckily I recently discovered two distractions that took up the time nicely.  The first is the open world video game, Far Cry 3.  I love open world games, and this one has a huge place to explore.  I can see that I am going to be poking around with this game well into next year – very nice.

The other was a book I finished up last night, called “Old Man’s War” by John Scalzi. I got it as part of the “Humble Bundle” of books promotion a while back, and it was pretty good.  I’m hoping the rest of the books in the series are similar in tone.  Very approachable SF.

This week should be interesting.  I’m trying to do some research on our next destination during our winter trip, and also get my employment contract worked out for the upcoming year.  I’m not sure whether my company is already working on that detail or if they forgot about it.  The third option is too scary to consider!