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Latest Bali Journal Entry:
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Last China Journal Entry: CLICK HERE |
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June 2002 |
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June 25, 2002 email - Bali Kites
Tomorrow I
say good-bye to my great friend Dave. He's such a great musician
that I knew we'd listen to some great music while he was here.
Sure enough, we made two visits to the jazz Cafe, on the west side of
Ubud. The first night it was as an incredible 4 piece jazz group.
The drummer was something to behold. His whole body was 'on time'.
He was 'way out, man!'. On Saturday it was an fabulous rock band.
Five piece, doing their own songs plus some great covers. Even did
Pink Floyd's 'The Wall'. Can you image - a 5 piece rock band in
Ubud, Bali doing a Pink Floyd cover - and doing it really well!
Dave & I have been having a great time together (of course).
Went to Tulamben last week-end to do some diving. Did the Liberty
wreak and the 'Wall Dive'. He really enjoyed it.
Last
Thursday was my last day at Vision Tech Asia. After 5 full months,
I was exhausted. I enjoyed my time there. I felt like I
really contributed at an incredibly high level. However, several
reasons added up to make it seem like the right thing - cash flow
problems there; I was getting stressed out; the boss was getting
stressed out; etc. However, I really feel like everything I
set out to do was accomplished there. I got my KITAS; paid my
'Emergency Evacuation' and health insurance premiums for the year; set
up many procedures like QA; testing; helped him with his marketing
materials; helped with other office procedures, etc. It was a
mutual decision, I can tell you. Originally he had wanted me 5
days a week PLUS; I really only wanted to work two! We compromised
on 4, but it was hard to keep it at 4. I found myself working 7
days some weeks. I finally decided to draw the line. I
figured that a US manager is expected to work a 40 hour week, PLUS
another 20% (8 more hours); so, since I was being paid for 4 days, I'd
work another 32 hours times 20% or 6.5 hours, so I was working M-Thurs
then leaving at 3PM on Fridays with NO week-end work. But even
that got too stressful. Paul is a great guy, a genius even; but he
really expects too much for everyone else around him :-( He may
call me back when his cash situation improves.
In the mean
time, I've started a 'Targeted Web Marketing' business. I pitched
one company already and have 2 others I'm working on. In a nut
shell, this involves working with a client and determining 'target
groups' of their customers; finding those groups on the internet;
sending an email & special promotion; and getting paid for results!
I'll keep you posted on the progress.
I'm also
looking at getting my TESOL certificate so I can teach English - ('cause
I speak it so gooder than most). Also looking at teaching at the
International Schools that they have here. Again, I'll keep you
posted on that.
In the mean
time, I'm taking some time off. Dave leaves tomorrow; another
friend (David Coffey - Pres. of the West Point Inn) arrives. he's
a diver, so I know we'll spend lots of time doing some great diving.
I also want to do a trip to Java to see an incredible Buddhist temple
call 'Borobudur'. It was built in the 8th to 9th centuries.
It is a monument like no other. It consists of a series of
concentric terraces of decreasing size that rise like steps to a central
peak. It has no roof, no vaults, and no chambers. It's basic
simplicity of form is counterbalanced by the extraordinarily rich and
complex decoration. Most striking of all, perhaps, are the
beautiful bas-relief's, in all some 1,460 carved stone (over one million
in all) panels covering a total area of over 1,900 square meters, with
another 600 sq meters of decorative carving surrounding them!
While in Java, I'll be looking into the exporting to the US of teak
garden & patio furniture! Ah, one must keep busy!
In addition
to David, Marci & Terry (two friends of my friends Kathy & Skip)
will be here and my friend Becky's niece Sara will also be visiting.
So, no rest for the weary in Paradise.
This coming
week-end I'll be meeting Made's folks for the first time. She's a
really sweet Balinese girl I've been seeing (see http://www.brucebriscoe.com/bali/friends.htm
for some cute photos of her). We'll be going to Besakih, the
'Mother Temple' on Bali. It's the holiest of the Hindu
temples here. So given that I don't speak enough Indonesian
to carry on a conversation with them, nor do they speak all that much
English, it should be a very interesting afternoon. Wish me
luck :-)
My Calif.
trip is still up in the air. I think it'll be in September for
about 3 weeks. I'll keep everyone posted when I really nail it all
down!
Well
this has been the month of Diving and Guests. Dave left June
7th on a noon flight and David Coffey arrived on a 3PM flight.
Then Becky's niece Sarah came in on the 12th! Becky had been here
last November for a month.
David is my
first real DIVING guest. I have done some diving with others, but
David is IN TO IT! We spent 3 days at the wonderful Mimpi Resort
in Tulamben diving the USS Liberty wreck and the famous wall drop off.
Both are spectacular dives. The north coast of Bali is said to be
2nd best in the world for diving. Second only to the Red Sea in
Turkey. The diversity of the fish (beautifully colored salt water
fish - of course); the actual quantity of these fish; and the diversity
of both hard and soft coral can all be literally (almost) stunning.
I have seen small reef sharks, large schools of silver Jackfish, many
moray eels, lobsters, huge clams, poisonous but beautiful Lionfish, huge
sea turtles, waving sea anemones, garden eels, big bumphead
parrotfish that look like some pre-historic reptile, lots of anglefish,
sting rays and manta rays, huge table corals in bright blues and
striking pinks, and other fish too numerous to remember. For all
my guests that have done diving here they say it is indeed fabulous!
David & I also did deep dives off Menjangan Island on the west
coast of Bali (down to 150' to see the wreck of a very old wooden slave
ship) and off a large island just to the east of Bali (Nusa Penida).
Some dives are slow swims while others are drift dives where one just
'sits' there at 40 feet while this beautiful wall of colored corals and
schools of fish pass you by!
David
leaves next Monday and so I'll have some time to earn some money.
I'm still working on the 'Targeted Web Marketing' programs. Am
preparing proposals for several other industries here. Next will
be professional cooking schools and meditation/Yoga/spa resorts.
So we'll see how that goes. The idea is so new that it takes a
while to explain it thoroughly to the management and marketing folks and
a while for them to digest the idea and 'run the numbers'. This
idea would really help Bali to bring in more tourists. I can see
many more tourists here now, however, NOT
MANY AMERICANS. What's with you folks from
America? Ya ain't scared are ya'? Ya' ain't listening to our
wonderful State Department that claims that EVERY country is unsafe for
Americans are ya'? Remember that, yes, Indonesia is 90+% Muslim,
but Bali is 96% Hindu! There have been NO problems here on Bali,
even during the worst of the Muslim reactions after 911. Even in
the rest of Indonesia there have been very little problems and even
those were last year. So please, consider traveling this summer.
The Balinese are the sweetest, kindest, most gentle people you could
ever hope to meet. They are suffering here as a result of the loss
of American tourists. Luckily the Japanese, Australian, and Europeans
are making up for it a little. You don't suppose that folks from
those countries are BRAVER than Americans, do you? I'm not saying
that I have HEARD anyone call Americans 'chicken' .... but...
Several weeks ago, I was in a cafe and overheard two couples at
adjoining tables talking. They were all speaking English very
well and it was ironic that one couple was from Holland and the
other from Italy. Yet, the common language was English. I
see this again and again. The common language between Indonesians
and most tourists is English. So brush up on
your English and come on over :-)
Once my
visitors have stopped (none planned after David leaves next week), I
plan on pursuing several other money making schemes. Local
robberies are out as people don't have much money here. The same
goes for strong-arm robberies of tourists (my arms just arn't that
strong). I'll be talking to several International Schools and
start taking a TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) course.
Both or either may (I hope) lead to me teaching again. I really
miss it. Plus I'm looking into exporting some teak furniture to
Calif. Beautiful teak lawn/patio tables & chairs and lounge
chairs. I'll keep everyone posted.
I've added
pictures to my web site for your viewing pleasure in the following
areas:
FRIENDS
CEREMONIES
My
California trip is ALMOST in concrete. Looks like I'll leave
Bali around August 20th, overnight in Kuala Lumpur, then into SF
arriving in the afternoon of Aug 21st (remember I get that lost day from
Sept. 2001 back - YES!) I'll be going to the LA area to see
relatives over the week-end of Sept 7-8. Then leave SF for my
return to paradise on Sept. 16th. This gives me 3 week-ends in the
SF area (PARRRRTTYYY) and 1 week-end in LA (parrrrtttyyyy). So get
those party hats and chip-n-dip recipes out... cause BALI BRUCE is comin'
in! (Actually I am wait-listed on the KL to SFO leg, so I may
actually arrive in SF earlier that the 20th - I keep everyone posted).
Thanks to every one of you that has offered me a place to stay, limos to
use, huge piles of cash, etc. Actually, I will be on a very
restricted budget while there. So all offers of breakfasts,
lunches, dinners, wine, and other gracious offers will kindly be
accepted :-) I look forward to catching up on ALL the news; seeing
all of you; and just plain hangin'.
Kite Flying Season in Bali!
With the trade winds becoming very constant from the South East, the perennial return of the Bali’s kite flying season begins. While children worldwide love to indulge in the pastime, it would be wrong to consider kite flying as it is practiced in Bali anything approaching "child's play." In fact, so serious is the local commitment to the sport that entire villages collaborate in making elaborately designed kites in the local Banjar centers that will be launched by the village's men folks and kept aloft for days on end. In this predominantly male pastime where size does matter, the kites can be as large as a city bus and require large trucks and motorcycle escorts in order to arrive safely at the launching grounds. There, handled by teams of men pulling ropes that can be almost a mile long, the kites are suspended thousands of feet above Bali's shore lines secured by massive wooden stakes driven into the ground. On any given day I can see literally dozens of huge kites in the sky. Most are large 'bird' like kites with no tails. However, some have tails over 100 yards long and can be seen for miles. Ah.......... beautiful. Not Without Problems Bali's commitment to kite flying does bring its share of problems and hazards to local residents. Sometimes serious facial injuries are suffered by motorcyclists who unwittingly encounter a kite's line stretched across local roads; power blackouts occur when escaped kites short circuit high power lines; traffic accidents do occur when a bus-sized kite suddenly lands on one of the major highways; and the kites are an acknowledged threat to commercial aircraft operations. A Potential Hazard to Air Traffic Anticipating these problems, local laws prohibit kites flying within 6 miles radius of the Denpasar airport at altitudes exceeding 100 feet. Further out, in a radius of 6 to 12 miles from the airfield, kites are forbidden to fly at altitudes exceeding 200 feet. Fines stipulated for violating this statue can reach as high as Rp. 5 million (+/- US$ 580). Kids get in the Act Too Just like the construction of the Oogah-oogahs during Nyepi; the building of kites is not restricted to the men of the villages. Nor to the building of huge kites. In the rice fields surrounding my house there are sometimes a half dozen boys ages 6-12 with their kites. These are also hand made like their big brothers, just 'boy' size and launched by 2 kids. The look of joy and satisfaction on their faces when I walk by and give them the ol' 'thumbs up' sign makes my day. Photos I'll add some photos to the web site soon! In the mean time here is a link to a story with lots of photos and even a sound file of the sound of the kites flying: |
Click on the Image for full size!
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