Trips home and back

Hello, again

Still trying to catch up, and no photos yet. I promise that will be my next online task! Now, where did I leave off?

After 2 intense weeks of canyoneering, shepherding visitors from Rome, clubbing, and crazy field visits, I was ready to pack to come home. Lots of last-minute Christmas shopping needed to be done; I had a whole suitcase to fill up just with oleh-oleh for my family!

The trip home included an intentional layover in Singapore on Friday night. Why? Tango, of course. I got my bags at luggage claim, changed in the nearest bathroom, stashed my stuff in short-term storage, and took off for tango, stopping for coffee along the way. The venue was lovely - comfy seating, salon atmosphere, mood lighting, shoes on display. I spoke with several very interesting and kind tangueros and even managed a few dances. When the milonga ended around 2am, I decided to grab a bite to eat on the street with one of my new tango friends, Benjamin. Around 4am I started to really fade, so I returned to the airport, showered, changed clothes, and waited for my flight. A night of tango sure beats hanging around the airport or a hotel!

The rest of my flights back to Seattle were mostly uneventful. An attractive man sitting behind me from Singapore to Tokyo showed his ugly side by trying to prevent me from tilting my seat back. This is my biggest air travel pet peeve!! Why do people think they have the right to do that to someone? These same people would probably have a fit if someone did it to them! As the seats are made for people taller than myself, the neck cushion hits me in the back of the head, making sitting upright for too long fairly uncomfortable. I MUST tilt my seat back or it makes me miserable! This jerk tried to prevent my tilting action by crossing his athletic legs and bracing against the back of my seat. Being short means I can get my legs on the arms of the seat in front of me and push with all my leg and back muscles. Usually when people try to block my seat like that, I push a bit with my legs and they let go. This jerk fought me the whole way. But I still won. I just didn't feel he deserved any charming to convince him to "let" me tilt my seat back; I just wasn't in the mood. The look of surprise in his eyes at having lost a little of his leg space to an innocent, petite woman was certainly rewarding, though.

At last, I arrived at home in lovely Seattle to my family, friends, and my cat. After 10 more days I had spent Christmas with my family, skied with my brother and friends, went snowshoeing twice, learned how to use an avalanche beacon, went hiking for hours in the snow in tennis shoes, and really enjoyed catching up with everyone. My mom, bro, and I went to the new Olympic Sculpture Park along Seattle's waterfront. The sun was setting over Puget Sound as ferries cruised by. I smelled a passerby's coffee. We were just missing orcas and salmon jumping in the water and bald eagles flying overhead. Remind me again why I left Seattle? It was a fantastic trip home and altogether too short. I spent so much time in the snow I didn't have any energy left for tango. Can you believe it?

My brief visit to California was a bit more stressful. Not wanting to use my Blackberry in the U.S., since it would all be international calls, I had to rely on non-mobile means of communication. Gasp! My flight was late getting in, and the prepaid phone card I picked up at SFO wasn't working too well. I finally arranged to meet with Alisa, from Ohlone Vet Emergency Clinic, for an early dinner. It was great to catch up with Alisa, Clair, Owen, Jake, and the others I managed to fit into my compressed time schedule. I got a few errands run in Davis, leaving enough time for - you guessed it - tango! Saw Chris & Dan's new tango venue - Firehouse 5 Dance - before we made our Wednesday night migration to Cell Space. Yea! It was so great to see everyone and get back on the dance floor. I crashed that night at my sister's SF apartment, although she was still in Seattle. Imagine my shock and dismay to discover that my rental car had been towed the next morning. I was able to sort that out in time to make my flight, but it wasn't a fun way to try to leave when I was already sad to be going in the first place. Maybe that was an omen?

I couldn't waste another layover in Asia, so I had worked out my time in Hong Kong to include a visit with Ed, a friend from England I hadn't seen since vet school. He met me at the airport and took me out for some really good (read: authentic) Chinese food. After much catching up and a little wandering around, I was ready to crash. We had a slow morning the next day before finally getting out to walk around the pet fish market and to take one of the ferries. I can't believe I forgot my camera! So, no views of the HK skyline. Sorry. Guess I'll have to go back and get one another time... Then it was back to the airport, another delayed flight (killed time with a glass of white wine and some pineapple sorbet while listening to live jazz), a nasty non-tango layover in Singapore, and a bewildered, jet-lagged return to steamy Jakarta.

Since I've been back, things are mostly back to the same old routines. However, one night I went out for seafood, Indonesian street style, with friends. The area is called Benhil, and my friends knew just the place to go and when to get there in time to get seats. We piled our plates high with green-lipped mussels, fish, prawns, and crab. Quite the night, I'll tell you.

Then, this past weekend, Stacie and I went to Bali for her birthday. This time we chose to spend nearly all our time in Ubud, Bali's center for yoga, New Age spirituality, and all things generally healthy. On our drive up from the airport, which was arranged by our lodging in Ubud, we met up with my Bali tango friends so I could have a final fitting of my new tango shoes. It was so exciting to finally have the shoes in hand and to be out of Jakarta for another lovely Bali experience.

We stayed at Murni's Houses, a collection of traditional-style buildings near the edge of town. The House, the building where we stayed, had screened windows, ceiling fans, lots of geckos on the walls, and traditional decor. It was perfect. The bathrooms were those open-air, landscaped Balinese bathrooms I like so much. Can't argue with an outside shower fringed by orchids! We got up early the next morning to go to yoga at the Yoga Barn. After a little confusion in figuring out where we were supposed to be, we entered the tranquility of this lovely open air yoga studio overlooking rice paddies. I hadn't done yoga in a few weeks. Well, ok, a few months! So 4 hours in one day was a bit daunting. Bridget, who was putting on this one-day anasara yoga workshop for Bali Spirit, was fantastic. It was hard work, and it was hot, but by the end of the morning session I felt really good. Perfect timing for a brunch of very yummy greens and salads, served by Kafe. We spent some time shopping before going back for another 2-hour session. After the second go, I felt really energized, although my body was very tired.

For dinner, we had signed on as Australia Day celebrants, again at Kafe. It was a great way to unwind, eat some good lamb and yummy pavlova, and to meet people. We met a woman from Bali (dog) Adoption & Rehabilitation Centre, or BARC, who convinced us to come out and have a look the next day. After our Australia Day festivities, we made our way to the Jazz Club for some good live music. I made sure to take a little Advil before bed, knowing it would be hard to get up the next morning. At breakfast I met a really nice American couple who were staying in Ubud for several days after being involved in a motorcycle accident. At least they had helmets on! Then it was off to BARC. The dogs were everywhere, and the shelter is struggling, as many do, with very limited staffing and resources. Most of their medications were donated and, hence, expired. We did our best to toss out the worst of the lot, although they have a long way to go to building up a respectable pharmacy for themselves. We hope to provide them with some protocols for deworming, treating mange, etc. and a list of commonly-used medications and their indications.

Our next stop was for lunch at, again, Kafe. It's just so yummy! Then we went to a spa for a much-needed rubdown. I partook of a massage, hot stone, and oil-dripping treatment that was to help realign my chakra. As I lay there being massaged by 2 people at once, the weather stormed over the rice paddies right outside. The sound of falling rain and thunder was vigorously punctuated by a couple of very determined frogs. Although they were a bit too loud and persistent at times, it was interesting to listen to them change rhythm and play off each other. A froggie jam session. After my fantastic massage and oil treatment, I was scrubbed down with fragrant spices. I walked out of the treatment room smelling like a spice vendor in a market somewhere, relaxed and radiant with pleasure. We stayed in that night, having dinner delivered from - where else? - Kafe. Stacie had another go at yoga the next morning while I decided to sleep in just a little longer and then linger over breakfast with my new friends.

We had our same driver take us down to Ku De Ta, near Seminyak. This place is legendary, especially for watching the sunset with a cocktail in hand. After a late lunch there, Stacie laid out in the sun, holding for us two spots for the appointed sunset hour. It is a beautiful venue, full of beautiful people, serving lovely food, playing cool tunes, and pouring very smooth drinks. A must-see for the well-heeled visiting Bali. The people-watching is great. I especially enjoyed watching the reactions of the foreign women sunbathing topless on the beach as Indonesian uniformed sailors walked by. One soldier even pulled out his camera. The women didn't mind if other foreigners stared at their bare breasts but clumsily hid themselves while the sailors were around. If you're gonna hang them out there for all to see, get over yourselves and stop acting embarrassed when everyone notices!

After partaking of the Ku De Ta sunset ritual, we packed up and headed off on our final mission in Bali: tango shoes. Just around the corner from Ku De Ta was a building called The Sunset Restaurant, which doubles as a dance studio. It was there that I met up with Iris and other Bali tangueros, to pick up my new shoes and take them for a turn on the floor. The venue has regular Latin dance events and seemed a very comfortable place to be. My new shoes - cherry red patent leather - fit like a glove. And it just so happens that in Jakarta, a new tango venue is opening this weekend...

It was with sadness that we have left lush, luxe Bali for the grunge of Jakarta. We're already planning our next trip back.

E