Poop Coffee

In an attempt to help me clean out the cabinets and use up things that won't move, Glenn and I finally got around to drinking his poop coffee from Bali.

I was surprised that it tasted different from our regular Caribou coffee, but I guess I should be surprised. I guess it did take the ultimate journey through a small jungle animal.

It had a strong roasted flavor and it was really good! If it didn't cost so much, I'd buy it again! Glenn did note that it didn't taste good cold though. Only a hot coffee drink. It only took us a year to drink, but it was worth it!

How to Import Something into Japan

1. First I bought the table in Bali on August 6th. We had our address worked out and shipping to Japan worked out (only US$165!) Seemed pretty easy. Pay for fumigation as well.

2. Wait and wait for the table to arrive. Email the company to see if they were actually going to ship the table after several months passed. One month delay to due Ramadan.

3. DHL arrives at my house in November. Is my table here? No, just an envelope of paperwork.

4. Stare at the Bill of Lading for a few days, trying to figure out what it is.

5. Call the 'Delivery Agent' list on the paperwork. Wrong number.

6. Stop by Fleet and Family Service Center on base and have a native Japanese speaker call around and find the correct number.

7. Finally give Shimamura-san my email address and wait for an email with arrival notice information.

8. Figure out what a custom clearance agent is.

9. Decide to let Shimamura-san act as my clearance agent.

10. Make a trip to Tokyo to drop off the Bill of Lading paperwork.

11. Receive the Customs Bill. Yell obscenities a few times. Must pay by Japanese bank account wire transfer. Are they SURE it costs this much to import something that costs this much?

12. Gather a ridiculous amount of cash and make a trip to a Japanese friend's house so she can transfer the cash from her account and I can give her cash.

13. In the mean time, contact a shipping company that speaks English and can deliver to Atsugi base. I contacted a company that was also making a delivery the same day for our annual bazaar. I already had the gate access passes for the bazaar so I knew the process.

14. The day of delivery, Glenn and I contacted 6 friends to meet at our house to help unpack the 4 crates.

15. Destroy 4 crates, pack two in to a van, attempt to get the other two up the stairs. This might take awhile.

16. Let the table hang out in the dining room til we get more friends to help us set it up (after we unwrap and wipe it down).

17. Enjoy my beautiful new table! Finally!

My New Table :)

It took almost 4 months for it to arrive and several phone calls and lost in translation moments, but my beautiful table from Bali arrived on Friday.

Our first meal at the new table was "Thanksgiving" dinner that Glenn and I made last night since he will be gone for the actual holiday. It was perfect.

Thanks to the several friends who helped us unpack, carry and lift the very heavy table. Each leg weighs over 100 pounds and the table top is at least 400. It took 4 grown men to lift it on to the legs! The table top is about 11 cm thick as you can tell from my hand and Stella's head.

I love it! Merry Christmas to me! Thanks, baby!

It's Here!

What's this crate you see? That would be the legs of my dining room table! It has arrived from Bali!

Pictures coming soon!

Once we get 5 more friends to come over and help us lift the top on to the legs. It is crazy heavy!

Not America Safe: This Entire Day

• I rented the scooter for about $7 and they never checked my insurance, there was no medical waiver, they didn't even care that I didn't have a valid license! (international license)
• We got gasoline from previously used liquor bottles.
• When my helmet strap didn't buckle, they said, "That's ok, just tuck it under." Please note, I made the guy trade with me and give me one that in fact would stay on my head in case of an accident.
• There is no hospital (real hospital) on the entire island of Lombok.

Not America safe!

Wordless Wednesday: A Balinese Bumper Sticker

Bali: Day 11

Day 11 of our trip was our last full day in Bali. There was a theme of our trip in Kuta if you didn't notice- beach and pool. We started our morning with a long two-hour walk along the beach, exploring the town next to Kuta, Legian. Legian is much quieter that Kuta. We wandered through some streets, got a little lost, emailed our hubbies and still made it back for breakfast.

After breakfast, we laid out by the hotel pool and read our books. So relaxing. So wonderful. Krystal decided she wanted to buy a dress she had seen a previous day so she went out in town and I went back to the room and relaxed and cleaned up.

For the evening, we were headed to Nusa Dua, a town about a 20 minute drive from Kuta. Some other girls from Atsugi base were staying at the Westin and had arrived a few days earlier. We met up with Kari, Alyssa and Tori for dinner and a Balinese dance show at the Westin. A perfect ending to our trip!

We got to Nusa Dua around 5 and the dinner show didn't start until 7 pm so we headed to a near by shopping area first. I stocked up on a few souvenirs for my English students although Krystal and I noticed that in this "nicer" part of the island, every souvenir we saw was priced much higher than in the markets we had been too. Even though the items were all the same!

We were able to catch a Kecak show. Here is a blurb from Wikipedia to describe this type of dancing:

Kecak (pronounced [ˈketʃak], alternate spellings: Ketjak and Ketjack) is a form of Balinese music drama, originated in the 1930s and is performed primarily by men, although a few women's kecak groups exist as of 2006. ^[1]
Also known as the Ramayana Monkey Chant, the piece, performed by a circle of 100 or more performers wearing checked cloth around their waists, percussively chanting "cak" and throwing up their arms, depicts a battle from the Ramayana where the monkey-like Vanara helped Prince RamaRavana. However, Kecak has roots in sanghyang, a trance-inducing exorcism fight the evil King dance.

There was a sheet on our table that described the story that ws taking place between the demon king and the monkey army. We were confused for a bit, but enjoyed it all the same.

While we watched the show we enjoyed a huge buffet of all sorts of yummy Balinese food!

 After dinner, we headed back to our hotel because we had to get up very early to catch our 6:55 am flight to Singapore!

Bali: Day 10

We were approaching the end of island beach vacation and had only spent 1 day on the beach so far! Our second to last day in Kuta was dedicated to enjoying the beach and surf. We started the day with a barefoot run on the beach which is much more difficult than I thought it would be. We returned to the hotel, had breakfast and changed in to our suits. After a quick stop at the internet cafe and a quest to find a sun hat, we hit the sand.

The waves on Kuta beach were huge and many people were surfing. We saw the lifeguards have to rescue one girl that got pulled out too far by the current. The undertow was strong so Krystal and I stayed near the shore. It was fun to watch all of the tourists attempt to surf though.

After an afternoon at the beach, we walked back to the hotel and cooled off in the hotel pool and then took at nap. We had decided to actually get cleaned up and go out to dinner tonight. Most nights of our vacation we would eat lunch around 2 or 3 and then never really have a dinner.

We went to a great Italian restaurant near the beach that was a Dine/Lounge restaurant. They had swimming pools along side the tables and our table was more like a bed.

It was a very relaxing place and Krystal and I decided to splurge and have a nice "expensive" dinner. My tuna steak was ~$13. I love Bali.

Only one day left in Bali and one more day til I got to see Glenn!

Bali: Day 9

The ninth day of our trip was another travel day, we were leaving Lombok and needed to return to Bali. Our last stop of the trip was the city of Kuta. We were staying there for 3 nights. Kuta is on the south coast of Bali and is famous for its surf.

Our morning started early with a pick up from a taxi. We were headed back to the harbor for what seemed like the hundredth time. This time we had a meter and didn't have to argue, so nice! We waited around for awhile for the boat to come and when it did, we were very happy. This boat had walls and windows and we wouldn't get soaking wet like last time. The ride was still rough but at least I was dry when we got there.

After we were back in Bali, we loaded up in a bus with the other travelers going to Kuta and started on the two hour bus ride. We found our hotel after driving in what seemed like circles after dropping off the other passengers. It gave us the chance to check out the area though and see where we wanted to go that afternoon. Our hotel, the Ida Hotel, was tucked behind a mall and some store, but was very cute once we found it.

It was in a great location too. We could walk to almost anywhere we wanted to go- including Coldstone Creamery!

We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping and exploring Kuta. We even found some Mexican food for lunch! Still not as good as American-style Mexican food, but I'll take it!

We walked and walked, shopped, emailed our husbands and relaxed. Along our shopping route we also saw the memorial for the 2002 terrorist bombings.

I felt safe in Bali, but if people asked "Are you Canadian?" we usually replied "Yes". If they asked "what do you do?" or "how did you two meet?" We would answer that we were English teachers and we work together. No need to draw attention to ourselves any more than our appearance already did.

I think we were in bed by 9:30 pm on our first night in Kuta. I love vacation.

Lombok & Gili: Day 9

Krystal and I spent our last day in Lombok actually not on Lombok. We returned to the Gili islands where we went scuba diving. Since the beaches on the Gilis were much nicer, we thought we'd spend the day laying out. We went to Gili Trawangan, the largest of the three islands. Although it's still not very large.

We rented bikes for a few dollars, but quickly realized that there wasn't far to go. We rode them around to the end of the island, took a few pictures and then found a location to veg for the day. The Horizontal Lounge sounded like the perfect place. Beach chairs, drinks, food, we were sold.

We didn't move far from these chairs most of the day except to cool off or snorkel in the water. You can see how close Gili Meno is in this picture.

There are no cars or scooters on the Gilis. Only bicycles and horse drawn carriages. There isn't even fresh water on the island. Most of the hotels had signed to "brag" if they had fresh water showers.  Salt water shower? No thanks.

To get to the island in the morning, we had asked our scuba guys from the day before to drop us off before their group dive that day. For about $8 each, they agreed. We got picked up at our hotel and dropped on the beach. Worked for us.

On the way home, we went back to the same beach to see if there were any boats going back. Luckily there was a boat leaving for Lombok right then for only $1 each! Once we were on the boat, we realized why it was only a dollar.

It may not be PC, but Krystal and I joked that we were immigrating to the U.S. We were crammed on a tiny boat with a bunch of other people. There was 4 inches of water in the bottom of the boat and the driver in the back was praying and tossing offerings in to the water. What are we on now? Time number 5 we thought we might die? Luckily, no problems and we made it to the Lombok harbor safe and sound.

The harbor was swarming with taxi drivers and less-than-reputable people attempting to swindle tourists in to paying too much for a ride to their hotel. An extra pushy taxi driver walked right up to Krystal and I and the conversation went something like this:

"Need ride? Where you go?"
"Sengiggi. Jayakarta Hotel"
"Oooo, that far. 150 each" (~$15/per person"
"Ha! That's too expensive!"
"Ok ok, good price, how much?"
"We'll pay you 50 for both."
"You funny. Ok, 100 each."
"No. Too much."

We walk away.

He follows behind.

We find a guy who we thought was a taxi driver, but turns out to be a government or city employee (says his car) that offers to drive us to our hotel for free, but our pushy annoying taxi driver convinces him that we should pay 50,000 rupiah (~$5). Fine, we agree. Then the pushy driver says that he should get the money since he found us the taxi! And he wants it up front, for doing nothing. We argue, Krystal yells. We threaten to get out of the car. Finally, the new driver pays the obnoxious driver $2 to leave us alone knowing that we will pay him $5 and he would have done it for free! We're still not sure we are going to make it to the hotel, but he does as promised and we pay him as promised plus some.

Throughout our whole trip, I felt safe. I never felt that I was going to get robbed or worse. The only problems we ever had were with money. Anyone and everyone would try to swindle you out of a few bucks. It got frustrating at the end, but I guess I'm my mother's child, why pay $10 when you can pay $5?

We made it back to our hotel just in time for sunset. We grabbed our bottle of Arak, sprite, some TimTams and a beach towel and headed to the beach in front of our hotel.

Who needs entertainment when you have sunsets like these?

Lombok: Day 8

Our second day in Lombok was also one of my favorite days cause we decided to go scuba diving. Krystal is also certified so it worked out perfectly to be traveling companions. We did two dives this day. The first one was called the Meno Slope. We were diving off of the Gili Islands specifically Gili Meno.

Our first dive was a drift dive meaning that the boat would drop us off at one spot, we would follow the current and they would pick us up at a different location. I've done drift dives in Guam, but nothing like this. The current was strong and fast! I joked that I felt like the turtles in Finding Nemo. Once you were in the current, there was no going back. This was scuba diving in fast forward. If you missed something, you weren't going to see it again cause the current just pushed you along. Because of this though and the lack of effort you have to exert while swimming, our dive was just over 50 minutes which is pretty long for a beginner diver like myself at about 20 meters.

The turtle we saw was over a meter across!

After our first dive, we stopped for lunch on Gili Meno and rested for a bit before our second dive. Usually you have to wait a couple hours between dives to let the nitrogen out of your blood naturally.

Our second dive was a slower current and there were more rock formations with smaller fish. We did see a HUGE moray eel though!

An amazing day! I absolutely love diving and wish I could do it more often! I'm excited for future trips when Glenn and I can go together!