Bali

We arrived in Bali last Wed morning, expecting alot more than what we got!!!
Our time has been fun and eventful, but I am afraid to say that the island has been overtaken by tourists from all over the world! Besides the plethora of tourists, the locals cater to the tourism (which is understandable), however it is hard to learn the culture and native rituals. All of the people Balinese that we hav encountered only want to take us to "touristy" places. So, I am afraid to say that Bali will soon become a westernized island with little culture. If you have a desire to go to Bali, DONT!!! Go to Lombok or Flores. I do know that there is lot more to see of Indonesia....we didn't get to experience the country. Once in the country, the intra-country flights are cheap!!!!!

The caste system only ended 60 years ago in Bali, so you can still tell a person's class by their name. So, that is the most useful information that I have gained from this experience. Our trip to a local island (still in the Bali archipelago), Nusa Lembongan, was fun and more chill! We met a nice man by the name of Komang, which means 3rd born, he was most "real"!

Back to the hostel life we go.....tomorrow it is onto Vietnam!

I forgot to mention the non-Balinese that we met on our stay. A Chinese girl from France, Stephanie, who joined us on a rice field excursion. She is travelling thru SE Asia on her own and wanted to split some expenses...so we took her in. After the trek, I don't think that she wanted to hang with us anymore. It was a hot and long trek!!! But, this morning, we exchanged emails before parting ways...we might meet up again!

Also, we met some surfers from Cali on a shared mini bus...kinda uneventful.

Text Messaging

I am connnected to the local mobile networks in the countries that I visit. Phone calls are $$$, but the SMS are relatively cheap. If you want to leave me a msg, please do so!

Boon Wah to Waterloo and back to Changi

I left Singapore today, and am now in Bali. But, I will discuss Bali in a later blog entry. This is entry will discuss my thoughts on Singapore.

The city/country is very clean and "tropical". The weather is very humid, therefore creating a beautiful environment in a city atmosphere. The country seems to hold the people accountable for maintaining the cleanliness and peaceful aura. All of the little Asian people are very happy and friendly. The signs on public transport say such things as, "Help another less fortunate, it will make their day" and "caring is sharing". This makes a very happy place to live. The public transport doesn't allow a person to eat, drink or smoke, or there is a $500 fine. Alissa and I learned the hard way. We walked into the MRT with a ice cream and the local employee reprimanded us for having food in the station. We played dumb (because we forgot) and the man let us off. After that incident, we no longer ate food in public places.

The downside to staying in Singapore is the cost, given our backpacking budget. It will be the most expensive country that will be entering into. In the local paper, an article stated that it will exceed Switzerland in the private inv't arena by 2007.

Singapore is home to many Asian cultures -- it is the NYC of SE Asia. All kinds of ethnicities migrate to this area, and we met a few of them. (1) An Indonesian man, Happy Foster, who I spoke of in the prior entry. (2) An Indian, Rone, who picked up on Alissa. (3) An Afghani, whose name I can't spell, who we met walking on the street. (4) And finally, an Indian/Aussia named Vas, who stayed at our hostel. The first 2 were quite harmless and entertaining, but the other 2 were interesting and educational. The Afghani briefly told us about the bombing in his homeland and that Bush is a bad man. We agreed with his Bush comments and said friendly goodbye. Alissa learned very quickly that we don't admit that we are Americans to people who are suspect of our nationality. So, from that point forward, we have been in disguise (well, in these type of situations). The other dude, was an Indian/Aussie, who we still can't figure out what his true profession and reason for being in Sing. He spotted us walking into the hostel and decided to chat us up because he thought that we were Irish! He went on to try and philosophize about his life and "pretend" to know reflexology, buddhism and world politics. I wanted to cut him down, but I kept my cool and just walked away. I don't think that want to waste my time writing about the babbling that he did.

One more point about Sing, the airport has free internet access!

Singapore

We made it to SE Asia after a long and draining flight, but well fed! After 3 days, we finally feel "normal". There is a 15 hours difference from Cali and a 12 hours difference from Penn. Kinda crazy that we lost a whole day flying to Sing. via Tokyo. It took us longer than expected to get through Japanese security due to the time it took the guard to analyze Alissa's shaving cream bottle. But after a brief demonstration, we got thru. When we got to Northwest Airlines, flights were over booked and were looking for people to give up their seats. Being the tight wad that I am, I thought about taking it, but it was for all other flights but ours. They were offering a $500 ticket voucher, free nite stay and food! Too bad it didn't work out.

On our flight to Singapore, we met our first friendly Indonesian, Happy Foster. He gave up his seat to let Alissa and I sit together, what a nice gesture. He even offered to help us arrange a flight to Bali, his sister is a travel agent. We found a cheaper flight so we didn't use Happy's services:(

Upon arriving in Sing, at 2am in the morning, we scored a free ride from the airport from a dude in the Navy. Although,we did have to change hotels because the hostel we booked didn't have our reservation. Besides, to our dismay, we booked our hostel in Little India. I have nothing against it, but all of the people in the "town", were destitute and we can't walk around at night. We stayed only one nite, in a room the size of a crackerjack box! Alissa and I slept in the same bed. We were so tired that we didn't hear the crazy animals outside our window, or the Indian singing @ 4am! This morning, we loaded up the gear, took a shower in the bathroom with the shower (with no curtain) right next to the toilet, ate our free PBJ sandwiches and jetted to the Waterloo hostel, which is in a nice neighboorhood.

Alissa has already made an Indian boyfriend named Rone (aka Roxie). He winked at here and told her that Euros and Americans are sexy. She was invited to drink beer and go to the disco, but she gracefully declined:(

Now, we are off to eat red bean ice cream and visit and Indian temple.

The Irish Hiker

buttercup and I @ glacier point in yosemite....our first day we hiked 8 miles! Who said that the Irish can't hike?

One for All and All for One

Our "summit" of half dome in Yosemite NP. The cables were not up, so we decided no to take the risk up the last 300ft. The five of us (Dave, Brett, Duncan, Me, Alissa) were totally psyched to make the trek....check out our smiles!!!!

Me moving my shit outta my shack!!! 

PSU reunion with Jen and Alissa! 

World Phone

Hey there, I have my new world phone and it is ready to be used on international travel. I have the same phone number, so if you need to contact me, my number hasn't changed! 408.835.8555.

I might get a local SIM card in countries I travel to, so if my # changes, I will post it!!!!

Obie 1 crossing the bridge! 

Obie 1 spotted in SF!!!!

My good buddy from PSU has finally made the trip to Cali! Almost a week before the big send off, she has come into town to go to the Mac conference and hang out in the city. She has conceded to me (over a beer), that anytime some speaks of a drinking story she mentions our PSU days....especially my obsession with Jack!

We spent the day chillin like villans in SF (check out the pics). We started in the Haight District and bought a present for Alissa. Just a lil something that she needs on her trip;) You will see more later! Then, we walked the Golden Gate bridge, while helicopters circled trying to get a closer glimpse at Obie 1!!!! From all of the walking, we decided to take a break to get some chocolate and have a beer in Ghiradhelli square. And ended the nite at an Irish joint.