Yearly Archives: 2010

Bali

Egg turns Six!

As the pictures will attest, Egg's sixth birthday was a banner affair, which, by way of proof, tuckered the living heck out of all and sundry. still, a success on balance, given the unending flow of gifts, the various birthday meals and the barefoot wood carving. Best of all, we were joined by lots of classmates and parents from Pelangi School, making it a truly festive affair. thanks to all the aunties, uncles and grandfolk who weighed in with birthday greetings. well done to the missus for wrangling together a birthday jamboree on a dodgy stomach. also, as ever, Tash has posted much more comprehensively about the big day than i ever could...especially as we've had an intervening weekend of fairly mammoth proportions that will soon be requiring its own treatment. so on to the photos then...Happy Sixth Birthday to our not-so-little Egg. Birthday Brother was never far from the action Little Lula was first in with the presents....(a balinese thundermaker, no less) Still squeezable at six Possibly redundant gift of calculator Birthday Brother gets a look in on the gifts...and was a very good boy all day YongWu is a fan of Korean football (as an England supporter, i can only be envious) Elfie, the Moon Princess, flew in to convey her birthday wishes Egg and Wayan made a good start on a carved wood Dolphin named Jake. the formidable ladies of Class 1contributed their woodcarving skills Musical Statues...in one of their more animated moments Dumps proved very adept at pass the parcel: quick grab, slow pass.... The Birthday cake: carried off by a swarm One step closer to a Gamelan, Egg gets his own Balinese xylophone

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June 21, 2010
Bali

My Indo ride…

i've had even more adventures getting a bike on the road here than in India. thankfully, the Balinese seem to have seen it all, so the sight of so much naked seatpost doesn't so much as get a second look. (something like this could cause a riot in india). this little sweetheart was an old mountain bike, with some new bits fitted. i had to break the rear hub, bottom bracket and left crank on successive days in order to flush out all the crap components, but thankfully the guy at the bike shop (yet another Made) was both knowledgeable and very nice, swapping me up a level each time at no or minimal charge. He was even good enough to find and apply the comedy decals. total cost: £48 (guaranteed resale value to his friend the rental guy, £30). bargain. best of all is the route. it's uphill all the way out, heading north towards the volcano, and downhill all the way back. the scenery, as you might expect given the incessant eulogies from Tash and myself, is spectacular. currently building up for the three or so hours of solid uphill that will be required to reach Lake Batur. hopefully by then some inroads will have been made on the sneaky inches that are threatening to engulf 'the washboard'. looking forward to your ridicule..... Functional, yes. Pretty, she most certainly ain't

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June 13, 2010
Bali / monthly photos

May: A Montage

herewith some photos from last month, along with my pick for the caption-worthy. as ever, your picks, captions and abuse are also welcome (and possibly even rewarded, in the fullness of time, of course). Spotted in KL: hungry truck or new method for casting statues?

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June 2, 2010
Bali / Uncategorized

Balimorra

it's a little difficult not to state the obvious when trying to describe Bali, because the verdict seems to be unanimous: it is a singularly beautiful place full of people who are possibly the world's easiest smilers. we wasted no time planting ourselves in the town of Ubud , a place where you're either an artist or a tourist (sometimes both). contrary to what it sounds like, it's not a bad mix: rather, a tidy little ecosystem which sees planeloads of tourists departing under the weight of many lovely things, while the locals stay on in paradise, making more lovely things. Cue smiling. the boys are now firmly ensconced in a new school, which seems to spring directly out of a rice paddy. it's such an appealing place that i've yet to begrudge the three daily bike runs (5k each way), or the more 'challenging' start time of 8.30. and i'm proud of our little fellas. they took to the place without so much as a backward glance (see the missus' post on the state of supa-happiness). in terms of housing, it seems to have worked out pretty well, what with ample space, a swimming pool that's nearly too close (i didn't realise such a thing existed), and a lovely local family who have already taken us in as their own. once again, Tash has covered it better than i ever could, leaving me to do what i do best: post embarrassing photos with silly captions. till next time.... you see what i mean about the smiling haircutting can be hazardous too, folks ready to rumble... sports day guaranteed a police escort in north america fish. they're not just for dinner anymore even martians need orange juice... i wonder how long it will take for him to crawl all the way out...? the new gaff. a bit of a steal at roughly one fifth of London rental rates a word…

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May 26, 2010
Bali / Uncategorized

i spam corrected…

thanks to Cory for pointing out, in that inimitable way of his, that i've used the country code for Oz and not Indo. that's now been updated in the original post. allow me to register contrition for my floppy-headed ways....

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May 16, 2010