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Bali / Uncategorized

From the top rung of Mount Agung….

I was lucky enough to be let off the leash for a night and a day last weekend to go and climb Bali's highest mountain - the sacred Gunung Agung. four days later, i'm still mesmerised by the experience...and my thighs have only just stopped abusing me at every step for cranking them up and down 2000m worth of hill . i went with some friends from the East Bali Project, ten of us in total: half Bule and half Balinese. i confess, i was a little paranoid about not having the right footwear, and so splashed out $30US on a pair of indonesian-issue hikers, only to see some of the group turn up in battered old converse cut offs. As it turns out, i was very needful of the heavy duty boots, especially on the way down when my knees conked out and it became more of a plunge than a descent. Only one of my converse-wearing friends made it, although all of us were fully shamed by the old women who passed us on the way up at about three in the morning, carrying a basket full of offerings and going barefoot! after failing miserably to get any sleep at Pura Pasar Agung on account of the local arak that was making the rounds, we set off at about twelve thirty...in the morning. we were the first group to really get underway on the mountain, and given the pace we managed, this was a sensible move. our 'guide' was Ardika, a friend of a friend who claimed to have made the climb four other times. within an hour of leaving the camp, his sandal broke in two pieces, and, when we couldn't fix it with some electrical tape, he decided to turn around and head back down.. it took another four and a half hours to reach the summit after that, with the last hour and a half…

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September 2, 2010
Bali / Uncategorized

Happy Phoniversary

trying to keep the signal to noise at a minimum, here are three semi-related news items. Happy Anniversary to my lovely wife, who has put up with me a good deal longer than i would have done (given a choice in the matter): 14 years in a conjugal capacity, longer if you count the years of prior goofing. to celebrate we had a slap up, six course dinner at what must be the nicest restaurant in Bali and are now completely cured of the need for food, wine, or exotic citrus fruits for the foreseeable. Happy Anniversary to those in my family that share the same date as Tash and I. Mom, Dad, Jeff, and Cyn: selamat ulang tahun pernikahan! and, on a slightly more upbeat note: i've lost my bloody phone. it bounced out of my pocket yesterday while riding the bike somewhere between here and there. here's my new number: jay-indo:+62 852 1358 0578 deliberately starving yourself before a big meal is not necessarily the greatest plan: 1) you can look a little too keen beforehand 2) you're drunk after the first drink and 3) your stomach gets the pregnancy treatment as you require it to triple in size and workload in the space of a couple of hours drunk on fumes: the deleterious effects of a chocolate martini Tash finds the transplanted monkey brain hilarious (it's actually a lime, dear)

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September 1, 2010
Bali / Uncategorized

East Bali Poverty Project

I've been doing a bit of work for a charitable foundation that has been setup here in Bali to help people living on the remote slopes of the Abang and Agung volcanoes - a particularly challenged part of the island where health care, education and decent roads have only recently been introduced. a lot more information about the villages of Ban and the work of the foundation is available on the EBPP website. (my sharp-eyed metro brethren may spot the wordpress/atahualpa/hostgator combination running the site. a pleasant surprise, in that i would have picked all three of these things myself if starting from scratch. also a good thing, since it looks like i will be in the frame for tidying up quite a few loose ends). i was lucky enough to be invited to the Independence Day celebration this week, which is the highlight of the calendar for the kids. People came from miles around, packed into trucks and dressed in their best. After games of sack racing, and an enormous Rice Cracker Eating contest, the kids put on a variety show, where kung-fu, rap numbers and gun battles featured almost as prominently as traditional balinese dance performances. It was also a chance to showcase some of the artwork from the up and coming talent and award various prizes for performance over the course of the year. there were about ten of us Bule (i.e. foreigners) there, and we were made to feel very welcome throughout. at the end, everyone sat down to a meal of nasi bungkus and families were given a package of household basics (from towels, to vitamins and toothbrushes) to take home. a good reminder that, despite the cheerful occasion, most of these people are living in incredibly challenging circumstances, without many of the basic amenities. below a few pictures from the day. i took many more, but some are of variable quality. the heat and…

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August 21, 2010
Lombok

Lombok – Part II – the Lazy Leg

This leg (i feel i'm stretching the term a little here) of the Lombok trip had a slightly more leisurely feel to it. To say the least. Not that our friends Mick and Claire could be called lazy in any way. No more than we could, of course! It's just that the atmosphere of the Gili Islands slowly crept over us and, by the end of a week there, we had been fully subdued by the sunsets, the views, the strolls, and of course, the fresh air. When my belt buckle began to repeat its old London trick of disappearing whenever i sat down, it became clear that we needed to heave ourselves off those infernally beautiful islands and get back to the grind of life in Bali. Here are a few shots i managed to bestir myself enough to take. at one point, Egg was the single most active person on Gili Air Uncle Mick graciously passes off brownies for Birthday Cake. Dumpy was maybe a little less inclined.... Uncle Mick: "Here's one i prepared earlier..." Egg: "Rubbish. that's not a cake, it's a beer" Our local volcano dresses up for dinner.... ....but spares no blushes later the choices were: get seasick or go to sleep Tash was relieved to discover that our ferry catered to the directionally challenged Cirque des Clunes, everyone. Cirque des Clunes Monkey Tennis (couldn't resist the double Partridge) the end of another crap day.

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August 18, 2010
Bali

Hey Messrs. DJ

the other night (actually, quite a long time ago now, given upload speeds and perambulations in lombok), weakened by drink, and with a little encouragement on my part, my friend John (DJ professional and all round nice guy) conceded to playing a few tunes on my portable mixer after the girls had disappeared upstairs to watch the latest vampire romance on dvd. what started out as an attempt to mix a few tunes turned into a 3 hour, track-apiece session with neither of us quite able to resist the challenge of turning out a one-better mix on a blinking piece of plastic. you can be the judge of whether it was a good thing that someone pressed record along the way, but since the marvels of t'interwheeze allow us to share these things, then here you go. [audio:http://shambolic.com/tunez/john_vs_jay_july_23_2010.mp3] (right click here to download) needless to say, John fashioned most of the silkier mixes with the worldmusic-and-dancefloor friendly vibes, whereas i showed a predilection for dirty, old skool sounds, which, thanks to the whisky, the time of night and my trademark kak-handed amateurism, tend to be introduced by way of the ropier mixes. enjoy, or avoid: you have been warned.

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August 13, 2010
Lombok

Lombok! (part I)

Our circumnavigation of Lombok is nearly complete. Here come some lessons from the journey so far. Don't: go any further than it takes to three-point turn yourself right on out of there if you encounter the beginnings of a bad road. no matter how much quicker it looks on the map, or what your sense of adventure is telling you; chances are it won't improve. we discovered this the hard way, after forty jarring kilometres on a road that was more like peanut brittle than any kind of thoroughfare. our car, an otherwise sturdy Avanza, let us know how it felt with a double flat tyre combination as soon as we got back to smooth tarmac. Cue lengthy wait while the first person to stop -- a saintly man by the name of Carti -- helped to remove both wheels, then rode off into the sunset with them while we spent two pointless hours on the road making smalltalk with a crowd of passerby who clearly had nothing more pressing to do than sit around, drink our juice, eat our chocolate and look at Tash's legs. bother with Kuta on the south coast. unless you want to join the ranks of smirking australian developers who sit in the cafes doing property deals with the locals in gleeful anticipation of the new, mega-airport opening in six months time. the other qualification required to enjoy your time in Kuta is at least a decent command of SurfSpeak. beach breaks, reef breaks, left handers. you know the bobby. sitting in a bar after the family had gone to bed, and faced with few alternatives, i was forced to bank the only real hangover of the Indonesia trip thus far just to get conversant in Surfanese. succumb to the urge to have even a single Bintang (beer) after a few nips of the local spirits (see preceding point). this relatively innocuous combo can bring…

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August 6, 2010