Our new whereabouts

Hello faithful readers,

First off, I'm sorry we haven't posted more regularly. That was our bad. In future, we promise (to try) to update more regularly. So, in light of our recent lax blog habits, this post has a lot to cover.

Some of you may have heard that the original plan was to continue on to China after Japan. That idea has been dropped like a Ming Dynasty vase in the Great Leap Forward. Now none of us are within two thousand miles of each other. Right now I'm coming to you live from Bali, Indonesia.

A few farewell thoughts about Japan: I loved it there. I loved how polite everyone was, I loved how clean and healthy everything was, I loved the food, and I especially loved the absolutely incomprehensible game shows they had on weeknight television. If I can I plan on moving to Beppu some time in the next few years. Also, an enormous thanks to Mike and Joey and all the gaijin in Utsunomiya, for giving us places to stay, offering us jobs, and just showing all of us a fantastic time. There aren't words to describe just how much we owe you guys.

So as I said, we split up after Japan. I came to Bali by way of Hong Kong, arriving in Ubud on the 30th. Thus far this place agrees with me immensely. Pros about Bali:
-The prices. I get a sizeable room with its own bathroom for $15 a night, meals cost between $3 and $8 each, and an hour-long massage costs $12 or less. I don't have to freak out about costs any more.
-Availability of services. Tourism has become such a part of Bali that everywhere has signs in English, international ATM's can be found everywhere, and there are cafes with free wifi every few blocks. Massage parlors are everywhere too.
-The scenery. Ubud is deceptively large, because everywhere you look there's massive foliage blocking your view, which makes you feel like you're in the jungle rather than on the main street. All the buildings are elaborately carved and decorated with stone heads or reliefs, usually with a religious motif. My personal favorites are these tiny squares made of woven palm leaves that are left on the sidewalk. They're about three inches to a side and filled with brightly colored flowers and crackers, sometimes with incense burning. I'm told that they're offerings left to appease the spirits who lived here before humans came.

The cons of Bali:
-The tourism. It's impossible to see how the locals live because the local and tourist lives are completely separate. Every local I see, besides the kids and the people who live by my hostel, is working in the tourism business, either in restaurants or shops or sitting on the sidewalk calling out "Transport?" every time I walk by. You'd think the trade-off of this would be more people speaking English, but it isn't. Everyone has a vocabulary of 10-50 words pertaining to their profession or convincing tourists to give them money, but they can't give directions or answer simple questions in English.
-The gaijin. Every fifth person I see is a white or Asian tourist. This by itself wouldn't be so bad, but the white people especially are loud, rude, and ignorant. I don't know if that's because of the time in Japan where everyone's so respectful or what, but they really irk me.

Anyway, there are my first impressions. Overall, I think I'm really going to enjoy myself here. Tomorrow I head for Kuta, where I plan to spend my days lounging on the beach drinking coconut milk and surfing, and my nights going out to the clubs. I'll keep you all updated.

Peace,
ian