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Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Clove Cigarettes

Before I came to Asia in 88 I used to smoke an exotic clove cigarette now and then in the States - or smell the aroma when someone else did - on the street, in a cafe, a theater, dance - remember?
Back in 92 that's mainly what there was here in Bali. Seemed like all local cigarettes had cloves - some places had Winston's and Marlboro's. They had three levels of clove strength - light, medium, and strong. I'd smoke a cigarette or two a day  - buy them singly. Learned pretty quick to get the light clove ones but still I got so sick of clove cigarettes that I couldn't smoke one even if I was dying for some nicotine. And they weren't selling the much more expensive American brands singly so I gave up on smoking at all here unless I ran into a foreigner with non clove fags (as some Brits and Aussies called them). But the smell of clove cigarettes was still everywhere. I don't notice clove cigarettes here in Bali anymore. I'm not around tobacco that much but some and just realized I don't recall smelling clove in the air at all. I've seen kids buy single cigarettes a few times but not much - and there are tons of kids around here cause there's a big high school next door. Anyway - stopped bumming and being strung out on that devil weed back in 2004 on July 1st. Not a puff since then. Never missed it for a sec. Thank goodness. - dc