Harmony Hotel Seminyak

... Cars and motor bikes take advantage of the full road: both their side and the opposing side of traffic, going as close as possible to running head on into another vehicle. The only way to not get hit or in an accident here is to play by their rules. You have to go in and out; there is no other way around it. Of course, I in particular use extreme caution. Believe me, I'm more frightened by these cars than anything else. Suzanna got the feel ...

... as if they simply fancied a morning stroll before tiffin. Elongated, white bodies are toped with an orange / brown crest that caps their heads and makes them visually unmistakable. They were not the first to beat their retreat however. One of the main stars, a bright, irridescent blue, Kingfisher, the size of a rook or crow, had been darting through the morning breeze to clip a morsel from flooded fields. Stealing the show for just a moment before ...

... for a "promotion" and you would win one of a number of fabulous prizes. Apparently he was guaranteed to walk away with cash or a week's accomodations in Thailand, India, or Bali - pretty splashy but we were all very skeptical. Further into our walk, we ran across some more fellows handing out similar cards. Curiousity got the best of us and we each grabbed a card to see if we would all be promised the same fabulous prizes... Trevor and Kate ...

... beginning a small rebellion within school. Having become very dissatisfied with the despotic rule of our current principle and school board - none of whom seem to have much understanding of how to teach! - I have started to make subtle enquires within the staff and discovered a huge well of discontent. After some careful musing I have tapped into this well, stirred a teeny bit and slowly but surely we are starting to refuse... Starting small with asking ...

... with no problems. A small ceremony was held at school on Wednesday, where again the support was not only strongly visible from teachers who had known Alex and Jon but also from students and parents who had, of course, never met Jon. I feel that saying anything else at this point would be disrespectful to Jon and to Alex so I will leave this entry by sending my best wishes towards Alex and to Jon wherever he may be, I hope he finds eternal rest. Ixxx

... fish in banana leaf - yum! Day 144 - Breakfast is included in the price of the room, and the wife brought over a banana pancake, fruit salad and fresh coffee to my veranda. I went off to the Monkey Forest Sanctuary at the end of Monkey Forest Road. The wooded area was teeming with monkeys and although they weren't tame, you could get right up close to them and watch them grooming and bashing rocks on the road. It was really cool to see monkeys so close and they were ...

... comfortable mattress. I loved sleeping out there, feeling the fresh breezes and listening to the night sounds. I would always wake with the early morning sunshine, enjoy the peace and quiet for an interval, then fall more deeply asleep and wake for breakfast. Neither Alec nor Amy were willing to consider sleeping outside for a minute. One night I was on the sleeping porch, almost asleep, when I heard the sound of a large creature of some sort ...

... and terrifying-looking ogoh-ogoh in the month preceding Nyepi. In Ubud all the different banjar youth excitedly gathered by each of their creations in the late afternoon on the eve of Nyepi to proudly lead their ogoh-ogoh through the central intersection down to the soccer field on Monkey Forest Road. With all the noise & commotion of a cremation ceremony these were lead one by one into this open area, where the rest of the community & visitors to the area could ...

... waves into the shore body-boarding but with no board. I couldn't help but feel this is a childhood innocence that people in the UK never get to experience on such a scale. I then went snorkelling again in the afternoon with Bryony and Ben and the sea was flat calm and so great viewing conditions. There were huge shoals of beautiful fish and as Ben rightly pointed out some amazing coral formations. We were lucky to get to dive in this area as from what I understand the ...

... nd by h*ving to br*ke suddenly to check we were going the right direction (Ch*rlie *ctu*lly c*me off the b*ck of the bike one time when I stopped de*d going uphill!). Worse w*s still to come when our b*ck tyre h*d * blow-out *s we r*ced downhill in the d*rk. Luckily my riding skills s*w us to s*fety *s I m*n*ged to keep control of the bike like * bucking bronco between my thighs (ooh err missus, brings b*ck memories of those night clubs in Sydney!) *nd bring ...